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3 Drivers Behind Warehouse 4.0 Trends Toward Automation 2018
Image by Axisadman - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9436500
There’s no denying that everywhere we look these days, there’s some kind of technology automating some aspect of our lives. Whether it’s that fancy new coffee machine that brews you up a barista style cappuccino first thing in the morning before you’ve even gotten out of bed, to the latest in automated machinery found in a factory or warehouse, automation is everywhere.
Automation makes our lives easier, and in the world of warehousing it’s a major route to achieving greater levels of efficiency and accuracy which in turn leads to greater profitability. It’s important to note that automation in industry isn’t a new concept. The first automated piece of machinery was Unimate (https://www.robotics.org/joseph-engelberger/unimate.cfm/) back in the late 1950s. Joseph Engelberger was heralded the Father of Robotics for bringing American inventor George Devol’s mechanical arm into the manufacturing world.
Since Unimate’s inception, even greater advances in technology and automation have helped to transform various industries and while automation isn’t a recent development, it is trending a lot more in the last few years than ever before. According to a White Paper published by Westernacher Consulting titled ‘The Trends Toward Warehouse Automation’ the trend is driven by rising costs resulting from operational challenges caused by higher consumer expectations.
Let’s take a look at 3 of the key drivers in this trend….
1. Increasing Labor & Land Cost
As businesses grow, so do land and labor costs. The single greatest cost to any business is labor. As the complexity of processes increases, it becomes more and more taxing for companies to find and retain skilled workers. In recent years, around 41% of warehouse managers reported an inability to attract and retain a quality workforce. As warehouses expand in size, so do the distances that products need to travel within the building and it’s also important that the labor force can physically handle the distances that need to be covered in a day. It’s been well documented that an employee at a large picking and packing facility may typically walk up to 10km during a shift as they move around the warehouse.
2. More Frequent & Complex Orders
As end customers demand faster delivery times many companies are forced into a position of skipping bulk buyers and having to ship directly to customers. When comparing orders to 10 years ago, what used to be pallets are now cases and what were once cases are individually picked items from within a case. Orders now typically are smaller, more frequent and contain multiple SKUs. According to the Warehouse Operations Survey, only 9% of distributors now handle only full pallets during outbound. Most (46%) now handle a mixture of pallets, cases and split cases.
3. Higher Customer Expectation Largely Due to E-Commerce
Not only do customers expect faster delivery times, they also want greater variation in products plus options for customization. This means warehouses need to hold a greater range of SKUs on hand.
In drawing a conclusion it’s easy to see that with increasing levels of complex processes, an inability to attract and retain a quality workforce along with increasing demands for a faster delivery service by consumers, handling of orders effectively and timely is going to require more automation across the industry.
If you’d like further information on TUMA sliding systems suitable for warehouse automation, please contact us.
Warehouse Automation Slides
https://www.heavydutyslide.com/en/product.php?t=1&t2=16
https://www.heavydutyslide.com/en/product.php?t=1&t2=16
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