SCXI-1102B What is warehouse automation? What’s the benefit?
ISCXI-1102B ntelligent warehouse systems, as gears for the increasingly fast global networked transport of goods, have always ensured timely delivery, thus enabling the company’s profits to grow continuously. Over the past decade, the victories of large online retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Otto, and Zalando have given an additional boost to automation in the industry. Since COVID-19 at the latest, manufacturers in the mechanical engineering, automotive, and electronics industries are now also increasingly considering building or expanding local warehouse capacity.
Warehouse automation plays a key role here. According to a Gartner report, the number of robotic Cargo to Person (G2P) systems in warehouses is expected to quadruple by 2023. By the end of 2024, half of logistics and supply chain companies plan to invest in applications that support artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics (AA). The goal is to at least mitigate, if not prevent, market volatility, supply chain bottlenecks and employee absenteeism.
SCXI-1102B Types of warehouse automation
The most basic type of warehouse automation, and the first to be undertaken, is the implementation of a warehouse management system (WMS). This will take over some previously manual tasks such as inventory or asset management.
The second step is to use an automated guided vehicle (AGV). An automated forklift, for example, basically performs the same tasks as a manual forklift, but does not require a driver to operate it. Its use involves advanced warehouse automation.
From there, a wide range of solutions can be selected to automate several processes that take place in the warehouse, such as;
● Multi-layer stacking
● High level of storage
● Handling of lightweight items
● High-density storage
SCXI-1102B From automated warehouse forklifts, logistics tractors, manual forklifts or shuttles, the possibilities are manifold, as are their applications in normal warehouse operations:
store
For example, in a warehouse, goods often have to be transported from the entrance to where they are to be stored. Using an automated forklift, either a balancing truck or a forward lift truck, this process can be carried out very easily.
supply
Maintaining a continuous flow of materials means ensuring efficient replenishment. With our automatic electric stackers, the replenishment of parts will be carried out easily and with maximum safety.
Point-to-point transportation: cross-docking
Sometimes, products do not need to go through the warehousing process when they reach the end customer, which is called cross-docking. In other words, the order must go directly from purchase to shipment. Agvs are perfect for this.
Empty pallet handling
Another process that significantly improves efficiency using AGVs is the transportation of empty pallets, which are often within a company’s storage space.
Finished product output
The key moment of warehouse operation and company operation is the delivery of orders.
Typically, self-driving cars will collect products from where they are stored, and if shrink wrap is needed, they will also take components to a dedicated area. It will then pick up the already shrink-wrapped product and ship it to the export area.
This is one of the final steps in preparing the order in the warehouse, and the slightest mistake can overshadow all the work that came before.
This is why automated warehouses are so important. With WMS, with cloud databases, information technology systems, AGVs, etc., it’s hard to go wrong.