To achieve the goals of increased productivity and the reduction in operating costs warehouse operations are starting to utilize every possible improvement that automation can allow. Customers are very price conscious and are willing to switch brands very readily if the competitor price warrants. One significant way to maintain the low price level that customers require is to keep distribution costs low by optimizing the distribution center operations with a warehouse automation system. Behind these main benefits are some other very prominent benefits to the automation of a warehouse.
A warehouse automation system can smooth out the spikes in seasonal requirements for labor. During holiday seasonal periods when there is an increase in demand for products to be delivered to stores, it has often been necessary for warehouse operations to add more staff to pick orders to deliver demanded products to stores. Hiring, training, motivating and managing seasonal staff puts an increased load on the management of the warehouse. A warehouse automation system can easily handle the throughput required for increased seasonal demand of product without adding the cost and hassle of more seasonal staff. The demand for the speedily delivery of products to stores is ever increasing. Stores want products as quickly as they can get them. Having manual picking systems to meet this speed requirement can cause errors in orders picked. A warehouse automation system will eliminate the errors in picking orders, while delivering all the speed that is required.
Stores are being configured in many different formats to meet the demographics of customer demands. These means that distribution centers must be able to meet the variation in product orders with flexible order picking systems. Automation is able to deliver the flexibility that is required to meet the variation in product demand from stores. With the increased demand for throughput it is necessary for product locations in the warehouse to always be readily available to the order fulfillment process. Warehouse automation can make this happen. As soon as a product is unloaded at the inbound loading dock, it should be scanned into the inventory. This makes the product available to order picking to add that product to an out bound order. The number of SKU’s stocked in any warehouse is growing every year. The volume number of products that have to be picked to fill orders puts pressure on the distribution system to be able to deliver any and all of these products with equal efficiency. Having automation in the warehouse helps to meet this demand of the stores serviced.
Having a warehouse automation system assists in making the products that are delivered from the warehouse to stores to be “shelf ready”. The products have been loaded onto pallets at the warehouse in groups so that when they arrive at the stores, products can be moved directly from pallets to shelves. There is no need for re-sorting or re-arranging products for stocking on store shelves. Another benefit of automation in the warehouse is the use of optimizing software that consolidates orders for a given store and helps to optimize the loading of trailers for a given shipping destination. This will allow stores to receive multiple product orders at the same time and reduce transportation costs.
Even with the demands for increased production and optimized delivery there are also demands to have the ware occupy a smaller space. Newer warehouses are expected to have optimum throughput in less floor space. The packages from suppliers are now less sturdy than earlier, answering the demands for “green” packaging. There are some parties that are asking for smooth conveyer belt movement of products rather than the roller type conveyers. This is to reduce the risk of damaging packaging that is less sturdy. As packaging designs change there is a move to the addition of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) labeling. The automation of any warehouse should allow for the use of this technological efficiency. Any methods that receive, put away, pick, or ship products should utilize the capabilities of RFID.
To achieve the best results from automation of a warehouse it is probably necessary to use a warehouse management system and warehouse control system software. Light notification order fulfillment and automated storage and retrieval can be useful parts of the overall system. Such an automated warehouse can raise the productivity levels while reducing costs at every point.
Our consulting engineers can answer any questions that you might have about the automation of your warehouse or they can supply you with a no-obligation quote for automating your warehouse. If you have questions about automating your warehouse or you would like to request a quote for warehouse automation, please click the “Request a Quote” button below and fill out the form to submit your question or request.
