Abstract
A method of operating a materials handling system includes receiving a request associated with the materials handling system and identifying an automation device included in the materials handling system that can be used to service the request, the automation device associated with a vendor. The method further including generating, by a device manager implemented in a warehouse execution system (WES), a universal command for controlling the automation device to service the request, generating, by a communication microservice implemented in the WES based in part on the universal command, a vendor-specific command that is in a format associated with the vendor, and controlling the automation device in accordance with the vendor-specific command.