The worldwide market for warehouse management systems (WMS) software hit $1.3 billion in 2011, a 10-percent increase from 2010 levels, according to a report by the consulting firm ARC Advisory Group.

WMS applications oversee and manage inventory, equipment, and workers in a distribution center.

The author of the study, Clint Reiser, a research analyst at ARC, said the market growth resulted in part from increased sales in both Latin America and Asia. Sales of add-on WMS modules such as analytics, labor management, and optimization also contributed to growth in the warehouse segment of supply chain execution software, Reiser said.

Reiser noted that in 2011 a large number of WMS sales occurred in the field of discrete manufacturing. In 2013, Reiser expects robust activity from food and beverage companies as they look to improve their track-and-trace efforts.

Retailers are also expected to purchase WMS solutions that fully support piece pick, packing, and labeling to manage high labor requirements associated with e-commerce fulfillment.