Warehouse Management Automation: An Investment for Future Growth
Warehouse management automation is transforming the logistics industry, one manual task after another. Automation augments the work of humans, allowing people to do more of the skill-based, brain-powered tasks while letting machines handle the tedious tasks. Companies that utilize and leverage warehouse automation solutions increase their operational efficiency and improve accuracy while reducing overall costs along the way.
Don’t Worry – Robots Aren’t Taking Over
When companies utilize automation in warehouse management, they deal with their most complicated challenges. That includes tasks that put workers at risk, jobs people don’t want or like to do, and tasks that are more difficult for people to manage physically. Then, those workers – many of whom are hired for their skills – can be tasked with positions that involve creativity and ingenuity.
What Type of Warehouse Management Automation Is Best Suited for Your Operations?
Automation can work in various components of the warehouse, including doing everything from packing to shipping. Some commonly used adoptions of warehouse automation solutions include:
- Shuttle systems
- Autonomous mobile robots that are zone based
- Autonomous mobile robotics for collaborative use
- Robotic case picking
- Mobile data capture to improve efficiency every step of the way
What Are the Key Benefits to Utilizing Automation in a Warehouse?
What’s the bottom line? Some of these systems may seem cost prohibitive to some companies, especially those looking to trim costs at every angle. Yet, the benefits are numerous and often far outweigh the initial cost outlay. They include:
Improving inaccurate inventory: Mistakes in inventory management cause costly problems throughout the supply chain. It leaves stock sitting on shelves or customers frustrating. Picking problems often stem from inaccuracies in inventor management. This leads to lost revenue, drops in productivity, and larger expenses. Automation solutions for inventory management resolve this by enhancing accuracy in real time, ensuring stock levels remain accurately managed.
Removing redundant processes: How many times does an employee handle a product before it reaches where it needs to go. Every time a ticket passes to another person, that’s a step that didn’t need to happen. Automation technology eliminates this risk by using barcode technology to maximize time management. They are faster and ensure accuracy in each stage of the process as well.
Reduction in labor costs: Automation also yields improvements in labor costs by removing high-paid workers from menial tasks. Some companies report a significant drop in labor costs and improvements in labor budgets by having skilled employees handle more important and valuable tasks. In an industry with a constant demand for workers, automation fills those gaps in an affordable manner.
Improve the Efficiency of Warehouse Inventory Management
Additionally, the use of warehouse inventory management automation improves efficiencies even when there are layouts present or inadequate storage space. It can enable improvements in operations even when product demand changes due to seasonality.
For companies looking to improve bottom lines and do so without being crushed by increasing labor costs, automation is the right size solution. It’s more accessible – and affordable – than ever and offers significant improvements to the bottom line. The right company and automation solutions make all of the difference.
