If you think about, warehouses and everyone working within those walls, are the unsung heroes of supply chain and distribution. Without quality warehouses equipped with the latest technology, we would not be enjoying the super-fast at-home deliveries or products being available on shelves almost on a 24/7 basis.
Warehouses are critical assets for nearly all businesses since they act as long-term storage hubs for their goods. They also ensure that brick-and-mortar stores don’t accumulate too much stock, which can’t be sold quickly enough or not displayed properly due to space constraints.
So, what is it like navigating the future of warehousing? What kind of interesting technologies are in store to help facilitate warehouse operations? We discuss.
The future of warehousing is in automation – where automation is seamlessly integrated into each and every process. Most traditional warehouse designs include legacy systems that enable operators to maintain digital inventory and have a mobile office, so to speak.
However, smart warehouse management is the future, and once you partner with an expert in warehouse management automation, you will clearly see the benefits of digitally transforming your warehouse.
For instance, warehouse automation can streamline a lot of day-to-day processes which are otherwise very time-consuming and require a lot of effort from workers – such as keeping track of orders as well as payments, and maintaining incoming/outgoing stock, or ensuring timely dispatch and delivery.
With the right technology at the core, the future of warehouse management systems will keep evolving, helping you manage day-to-day operations far more efficiently than you thought possible.
The use of AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) is changing the way supply chain and warehousing companies do business. In fact, their collective use is optimising warehouse processes beyond what people can deliver, and at a remarkable scale. What this means for the average warehouse business is that tasks can be completed far more efficiently, freeing up additional time and resources to focus on other specialised areas that come under the daily operational scope.
Technological innovations and their application in many aspects of business have paved the way for some very positive changes across many industries worldwide. These advancements have also enabled the logistics and tracking industry to evolve, thus, changing the way things are done in warehousing.
In fact, industrial warehouse technology is changing supply chain data processing and analytics, for example, at all levels. What were once manual labour-intensive tasks like dispatching orders or processing payments, can now be accomplished in the blink of an eye through advanced automation.
Maintaining accurate inventory has long been a challenge that warehouses in nearly all industries have been trying hard to tackle. But today, ‘futuristic’ warehouse technology can help you track inventory far more efficiently and enable warehouse managers and business owners to do their jobs more effectively by providing numbers and metrics in real time – right on their mobile devices.
The future of warehouse health and safety checklist inspections is HS Manager App – a bespoke piece of software designed by specialists working in the Manufacturing and Logistics sectors, helping warehouse professionals, record data in an easier, more efficient, and cost-effective way.
Organisations working in high-risk industries like manufacturing, warehousing, supply chain, and logistics, are well aware of the risks and potential hazards their workers face each day. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, many businesses do not have the appropriate health and safety controls to minimise risk and hazards at the workplace.
According to an HSE report, around 54,000 workers are involved in non-fatal accidents in the manufacturing sector each year. Most of the injuries they suffer are a direct result of manual handling accidents, trips, slips, and falls, contact with moving machinery, and being struck by moving objects.
It is estimated that the logistics industry will grow at a CAGR of 10-12%, reaching a value of $380 million by 2025. A large driver of this growth will be technology and automation – from robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) to artificial intelligence (AI), better integration of the various ecosystems involved, digitisation of processes, and more.
Supply chain inspections often prove to be a challenge, even for leading, well-established companies. However, standardisation has now become one of the chief methods of optimising the greater supply chain and ensuring that all managers, departments, and teams are on the same page.
According to a 2019 report published by the Journal of International Logistics and Trade, political unrest are among the leading causes of supply chain disruptions. A SAP survey reported that 58% of US business leaders believe supply chain problems primarily stem due to global political unrest.
Even though a myriad of digital processes have been introduced across many industries in the UK economy, a recent report indicates that at least 96% of UK manufacturers believe there is an underinvestment in technology and digitisation in their sector.
Did you know that manufacturers are still using paper in more than a third (35%) of their processes on average? What’s more, manual spreadsheets are still used for nearly half (49%) of all manufacturing-related processes.
In the world of business, the last thing any owner, CEO or stakeholder wants to hear is “disruption”. Effective supply chains that run like a well-oiled machine are integral to any business’s success.
The manufacturing industry has been slow to move forward, especially from an ecosystem-wide and enterprise-wide digital transformation perspective.
This brief yet insightful article explores where the UK logistics sector will stand in the next 12 months – amid many challenges, such as Brexit, the global pandemic and the Ukraine war.
