Companies are always under pressure to improve warehouse management efficiency and minimize errors. Modern technology will help them solve this challenge.
As the pace of trade and e-commerce activities accelerates, companies are facing increasing pressure to improve efficiency, productivity and accuracy in warehouse management. Mark Wheeler, Director of Warehouse Solutions at Motorola Solutions - a telecommunications equipment provider headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois - said: "As materials and goods move faster and faster, the supply chain must operate more efficiently".
Warehouse managers need to quickly adapt to significant changes in the supply chain.
Special customer demands are increasing the number of SKUs, leading to growing requirements for clarity, accuracy and efficiency in inventory control. At the same time, new regulations also require more accurate tracking of goods, while the increase in trade is driving growing demands for inventory management, flexibility, faster and more
accurate execution.
Mobile devices and applications such as full-featured tablets, barcode scanners, identification systems and specially designed wireless networks help warehouse managers and logistics professionals effectively address these challenges. These devices and applications enable companies to track goods and enhance efficiency and accuracy in identifying and packing goods, execute transactions well, coordinate effectively with partners and improve the functionality, productivity and efficiency of the supply chain.
Steve Wimsatt, Director of Business Development at Ruckus Wireless Inc, a wireless networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, said: Automation tools are becoming increasingly essential for logistics, supply chain and transportation management.
E-commerce growth is a major contributor to the increasing demand for speed and efficiency in warehouse management. The retail market has grown 17% globally over the past 5 years with no signs of slowing down, according to a report by consulting firm A.T. Kearney. Meanwhile, the latest forecast from market research firm eMarketer indicates that global e-commerce sales will increase by about 20% in 2014, reaching $1.5 trillion.
Complexity in Management
As consumers feel more comfortable ordering products from their laptops and mobile devices, warehouse management operations are becoming increasingly complex. Instead of shipping one large pallet of goods to a retail store as before, they now ship hundreds of small orders to individual customers around the world. At the same time, customers also demand faster delivery.
In recent years, OHL, a 3PL company headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn, has achieved significant growth in the US and Canada, especially in e-commerce. Rob Tahyn, Vice President of Engineering at OHL, said the company is serving a large number of customers and has a total area of over 130 warehouses across the US and Canada totaling 33 million square feet.
Tahyn said "e-commerce accounts for 30% of the company's logistics contracts and is the fastest growing segment. However, there are also challenges such as order volume and the number of SKUs. These very challenges have driven us to improve productivity and better manage our workforce to minimize risk.
OHL uses compact Motorola scanners for identification and transfer at most of the company's warehouses. The company has also recently begun testing voice recognition software from Wavelink Speakeasy of South Jordan, a technology provider headquartered in Utah.
Tahyn explained - using voice recognition systems will help OHL increase productivity and accuracy. The system guides users to accurately identify the location of goods.
Dave Hauptman, Vice President of Operations and Marketing at OHL, said: This technology is also very effective for new employees. Previously, new employees typically took 3-4 weeks to become proficient in warehouse management, but with this new technology the time is reduced to just 5-7 days. This is a company advantage especially during the busy holiday season. We have helped customers save their time and money.
The company is testing this technology at some of our warehouse locations, but Tahyn also foresees widespread use of this technology in the future. We are also planning to pilot full-featured tablets in our labor management system to achieve greater accuracy.
Wireless technology also helps warehouses operate more efficiently by allowing access to real-time information at company warehouses, and helps minimize risk. However, warehouses all have metal structures that interfere with wireless devices in transmitting and receiving signals. We are working to overcome these obstacles to ensure faster connection speeds.