Context

In a warehouse management system, query speed matters for tasks like locating inventory, scanning work queues, and tracing shipments. Index choice can change both read performance and how rows are physically organized.

Core question

Explain the difference between a clustered index and a non-clustered index in the context of a WMS database. In your answer, describe how each index affects physical row order, lookup speed, and maintenance cost, and when you would choose one for tables such as inventory, pick_tasks, or shipment_events.

Scope guidance

Keep your explanation practical and database-focused. The interviewer expects you to compare storage behavior, read/write trade-offs, and the impact on common WMS access patterns such as searching by sku, location_id, or order_id.