If we were to name the main professionals in the logistics sector
Technology is changing the world we live in at a dizzying pace. The advances in high tech are also reflected in warehouses and their management, as to keep up with the manufacturing products, their production and the demand for consumers, more and more warehouses decide to equip themselves with the technologies that make them “smart”. Indeed, we talk about “smart warehouses”.
A smart warehouse is a warehouse enabled with several automated and interconnected technologies that work together to increase the productivity, flexibility and efficiency of the warehouse by decreasing errors and optimising time and resources.
In a smart warehouse, orders are received automatically and, after the system has confirmed whether the requested products are in stock or not, the pick lists are then sent to robot trolleys which place the ordered products in containers and deliver them to the workers for the next stage.
In addition to decreasing the risk of injury to workers, reducing the rate of human errors and optimising production, smart warehouse automation also leads to a general reduction in operating expenses by adding flexibility to the operating hours, allowing you to be more precise in assessing the needs of the workforce.
It is not enough to implement automation technologies to have a smart warehouse. To make it truly “smart”, it must be flexible and guarantee data visibility.
Warehouse operations are becoming more and more complex and the variables to consider grow over time.
A smart warehouse system should constantly seek to optimise the journey of products from storage to dispatch and seek out temporary storage opportunities and third-party logistics providers in the event of temporary overstock.
Flexibility also comes into play with regard to the various software used in a smart warehouse, as all systems should be able to work with numerous platforms, sales systems and other warehouse functions.
As technology continues to advance, data visibility has become a must-have for most software related to supply chain functions.
This is very important today: as supply chains and warehouse operations become more complex, software solutions must be ready to update and store data immediately.
In fact, customers and stakeholders want to be able to tap into data in real time to check where their product is at any given moment.
Furthermore, data visibility also provides useful information for the operation itself: the real time data gives the operators an overview of the entire warehouse.
What are the technologies utilised by smart warehouses?
We have already said that smart warehouses are highly automated warehouses which use different technologies:
Warehouse robots mainly manage the picking and packing of goods. They automate the picking process by physically bringing products off the shelves to the people in charge of packing orders.
The benefits of using them are manifold: they move faster than people, they move more goods at once and they can also identify the optimal route to pick up the necessary products.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) helps organise and check inventory.
Thanks to RFID and digital labels, we no longer need the old analogue tracking methods. Now, radio waves are used to transfer data between the digital label and an automated scanning system, recording product information.
RFID also replaces the old barcode scanners (where the barcode had to be precisely aligned with the scanner in order to be identified). RFID scanners, on the other hand, can simply be pointed in the general direction of the package to identify it successfully.
So, since scanners don't have to be precisely aligned, automated machines can be used to scan packages as they arrive. Additionally, these scanners can detect goods as they leave the warehouse during order fulfilment, ensuring that inventory counting is always accurate.
AI helps increase productivity by minimising errors.
Artificial intelligence helps warehouse robots find the most efficient route to pick up products or automatically determines the best type of box for a shipment based on the type, number, size and weight of the products.
The Internet of Things involves several devices connected to the Internet that communicate with each other and share a series of data. In smart warehouse systems, this means that robots can communicate with all the technology they need, including a Warehouse Management System (WMS).
An example of the IoT at work in a smart warehouse management system starts with a warehouse receiving a product. When the shipment is received, an RFID scanner scans the tags, telling the WMS which and how many goods have been received. The WMS then communicates with the robots, informing them where those goods are to be stored in the warehouse.
All of this happens automatically and seamlessly, without losing any crucial information along the way and drastically reducing errors.
Smart warehouse systems are the result of the various interconnected warehouse technologies that work together, forming a technological ecosystem in which goods are received, identified, sorted, organised and picked up for shipment automatically.
The best smart warehouse solutions automate almost the entire operation, from suppliers to customers, with minimal errors for the benefit of all parties involved.
