Whether you operate a mail-order business, store stock for retail operations or manufacture and store your own products, there is a lot of efficiency to be gained through warehouse logistics, especially when considering new technologies.
Here are a handful of examples that could improve the efficiency of your warehouse logistics chain.
Improved layout, smart storage, and on-site production
‘Smart’ storage is probably the easiest improvement to implement in any existing operation. With smart storage, each stored product has an associated SKU that is scanned when the product is picked from stock, with this information instantly applied to your stock database. Not only will this reduce picking errors by checking against what the employee is supposed to be picking but also you will have real-time stock tracking and need never be caught out again.
If you produce your own product, you may do a lot of on-site production already, but how about instantly 3D printing to order? There is no need to stock uncommon or smaller parts, or even to have to manually manufacture to order, if you can 3D print to order. What was a few years ago a very limited technology can now cope with plastics, metals and industrial composites, which could really revolutionise your logistics.
The least technological but still incredibly important aspect is simply considering the layout of your warehouse. From the very basic level of adding some used pallet racking to cut down on clutter or replacing existing shelves with improved options from a supplier such as http://www.rackzone.ie/, the layout of your warehouse can gain substantial efficiency.
Embracing information technology
There is a lot to gain from technology, even completely ignoring the physical side of the warehouse. GPS technology has been around for years, but something as simple as GPS tagging forklifts can save employees huge amounts of otherwise wasted time.
Another GPS option is geo-fencing, which divides your warehouse into ‘logical’ segments and enables you to send messages to employees within a certain area, such as to automatically identify a picker near a required product and update their pick list remotely to save a trip.
Some of these will work better than others, depending on the sort of operation you run, but there are lots of options that could save you time and money.
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