In the modern consumer marketplace, customers have a lot of options when they visit a certain reseller or business. In addition to being accustomed to fast shipping and responses from modern retailers, customers expect products to be in stock and fulfilled almost within the blink of an eye. Whether they’re ordering for a business or directly as a customer, this often means that modern warehouses need automation technologies to catch up and compete.
The trend is only accelerating. In fact, in 2016, there were about 40,000 shipments of various warehouse automation technologies worldwide. This is expected to increase to at least 620,000 units annually by 2021. Businesses as diverse as furniture installation companies and restaurant supply establishments try to make sure that they’re competitive in the modern marketplace in these ways.
Let’s look at five warehouse automation technologies that are helping to increase distribution and profitability for companies. This will help you become more aware that investing in fulfillment and logistics services (automated or otherwise) is worth the money.
1: Cartonization
Cartonization refers to having the standard size cartons available that they know match the products being fulfilled. This eliminates human operators trying to use guesswork for a box that is too small or too large. This enables the company to avoid costly mistakes like shipping objects for furniture installation companies inside of a box where they will be damaged or crushed.
The process of cartonization utilizes special software to calculate each order’s optimal box size along with the proper dimensions and weight data. The best software selects the smallest shipping container that an order will fit into. Getting this right from the beginning eliminates problems/damages, reduces shipping costs, and improves efficiency.
2: Dimensional Weight Capture
Dimensional weight capture is now a necessary component for trying to obtain the lowest cost parcel shipment rates. No matter whether you’re shipping for furniture installation companies or a coffee house, you will want this automation technology to increase efficiency across the board. This usually utilizes a 3D camera combined with a scale to get a 3D representation of the object.
Almost all the major logistics companies, including UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service, utilize dimensional weight as an efficient way to send items. Through this dimensional weight, they’re able to reliably calculate a formula to come up with billable charges that are appropriate. If you do not end up utilizing this technology, you will be left far behind your competitors and pay far too much for shipping.
3: Print and Apply Labeling
Applying quality print and labels are essential for any warehouse or business. If you’re a furniture installation company, you’ll want “fragile” inserted on some pieces, or health hazards (such as Proposition 65 warnings) on others. Without these, you could be opening yourself up to legal liabilities that expose people to harm. This is especially true if the orders that you’re fulfilling have things like plastic bags in them.
4: Pick-by-Voice Technology
Pick-by-Voice technology enables you to pick items in the warehouse using a combination of voice commands/responses and hands-free two-dimensional barcode scanning. It has been studied that voice-directed picking lowers labor costs by 30-70% and improves order accuracy to 99.99% in some cases. Voice picking verifies item pick locations, SKU labels, and lot capture in a single step which makes it extraordinarily easy to fulfill items when you need to.
5: Pack Automation
Furniture installation companies, or others who pack products that have multiple parts, will love the features that pack automation provides. Instead of having to individually place out items that are supposed to be combined before shipping, these items can be fed into a master component router that easily does the work of many employees at once. Features such as automated document insertion eliminate the mundane task of printing, reducing 35 seconds or more of labor from every shipment. Sometimes these can pack up to 15 boxes per minute, a fivefold increase in productivity compared to manual pack and manifest stations.
American Western Distribution has everything you need to improve your warehouse’s efficiency. Rely on our team when you’re ready to take your business to the next level.
