What you put into your warehouse is what you get out of it. So put in old-fashioned, ineffective and isolated technology, and you’ll get out inefficiency, inaccuracy, delays and dissatisfied customers. As the scale of the warehouse grows, the scale of the problems grows too. Bigger, busier warehouses need bigger, more productive technology, if they are ever to achieve financial payback.
The answer is to introduce integrated technology solutions to drive flexibility and flawless fulfilment.
Only 6 steps from success
The nearer you come to achieving a perfect order, the greater your competitive advantage. The further from perfect – the more real the disadvantage.
The good news is that a near-perfect order can be realistically achieved in just 6 steps. You can discover the full details by downloading our Six Steps to Flawless Fulfilment. But in brief, the steps are:
- Step 1 – Deploy industrial wireless solutions
- Step 2 – Improve staff communications and management
- Step 3 – Streamline order picking processes
- Step 4 – Advance inventory and storage capabilities
- Step 5 – Upgrade inbound handling operations
- Step 6 – Turnaround outbound handling performance
Step 1
A robust and reliable wireless network enables communication, integration, agility and flexibility.
- Zebra Access Points, for example, can ensure dependable, high-performance, high speed connectivity.
Step 2
Improved communications with real-time access to business systems drive improved efficiency and productivity. But mobile – not desk-bound – solutions are key.
- From Push-To-Talk 2-way radio-style devices, to handheld touch computers, Zebra portable, handheld and wearable mobile devices put communication at employees’ and managers’ fingertips, everywhere in the warehouse.
Step 3
Manual order picking Is slow, costly and inefficient. Mobility and automation allows more orders to be processed, more quickly, with fewer errors.
- Provide pick lists or plot the fastest route to the items, with mobile computers, printers, and wearable terminals and scanners from Zebra.
Step 4
Real-time asset tracking, inventory visibility and control are key to flawless fulfilment.
- Tracking assets marked with barcodes and RFID tags is easy with Zebra devices like the hands-free cordless imager, mobile computers and handheld mobile terminals.
Step 5
Efficient receiving and sortation processes ultimately lead to flawless fulfilment. Scanning barcodes is the most effective way to maintain an up-to-date inventory and to ensure correct placement of received items, ready for error-free retrieval.
- Zebra vehicle-mounted mobile computers, bar code readers and mobile printers all help to maximise productivity, accuracy and efficiency.
Step 6
Outbound handling performance is the final piece of the jigsaw of flawless fulfilment. In achieving a successful “last mile” real-time information is crucial, and mobility can streamline the process as well as increase productivity.
- A Zebra Micro Kiosk, for example, can help ensure integrated communications between packing, staging and delivery.
More mobility for flawless fulfilment
As Jeff White, Systems Integration Director at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., noted after its move to automated warehouse technology: “Having an automated system gives us more information, more readily available and more accurate, enabling us to be better at what we do.”
Originally Posted by Steve Northcott
