Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS)
Perishable products like food and pharmaceuticals are sensitive to their environment. One small mistake can ruin an entire shipment. An ASRS-equipped system prevents these errors and reduces the time goods spend in the warehouse.
An ASRS-equipped system can reduce human error with the following features:
- Prevents mix-ups in storage and shipments
- Ensures items are sent on a first-in, first-out basis
- No breaks, vacation, illness, or fatigue affecting work speed and/or quality
How Automation Reduces Operation Costs and Increases Efficiency
Traditionally, labor costs grow as your business grows. The more items moving in and out of a warehouse, the more hands are required to move them. You may find yourself paying an increase in overtime wages during busy holiday seasons.
With automation, your business can scale using the systems you have already put in place. Unlimited growth is possible, and your team members can focus on specialized jobs, not repetitive, labor-intensive, and time-consuming processes.
Human errors can hurt employees, your reputation, and your bottom line. Serious accidents are most commonly caused by manual handling. Using robotics and other automated systems can prevent injuries to your employees and damage to your goods.
A smart warehouse system will produce accurate analytics and reporting. This allows you to easily identify issues in the supply chain or the warehouse itself. These changes maximize profits for you and lower prices for your customers while shipping items faster and with more accuracy. This equals more satisfaction for everyone, from your warehouse workers to your customers. Even the most efficient warehouses have room for improvement. Work within a warehouse is labor-intensive. As people get fatigued, errors are bound to occur. Functioning machinery is also essential to an operable warehouse. Warehouse downtime can be a manufacturer’s worst nightmare.
Here are some methods to consider for automating your warehouse to run as smoothly as possible and maximize your profits.
Warehouse Management System
An efficient warehouse management system automates tedious manual processes while capturing data that informs business best practices. Integrating a warehouse management system with other solutions in your warehouse can reduce labor costs and increase customer satisfaction.
A warehouse management system can optimize some of the most important tasks, including the following:
- Monitor real-time inventory levels.
- Fulfill large orders quickly.
- Integrate with an e-commerce store.
- Forecast demands for products.
Cameras, Sensors, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Outfitting your warehouse with modern cameras, sensors, and RFID tracks data for variables that affect your product. These upgrades can improve worker satisfaction, allowing warehouse staff to do their jobs more easily.
Some data points being captured by cameras and sensors today are:
- Temperature
- Pick and pack times
- Order accuracy
- Automatic inventory tracking
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Robots can move faster, carry more weight, and are not at risk of injury from improper work practices like humans are. Robots are also more accurate. Pick-and-pack errors by humans in warehouses contribute to an 11-13% decrease in profitability.
AI-equipped robots can optimize efficiency in the warehouse setting by:
- Automatically picking items and transporting them
- Identifying optimal routes
- Carrying more weight without fatigue or injury
Improving the Coding and Marking Process
Updating in-house coding and marking solutions to an automated system virtually eliminates the chance of a production slow-down due to printing issues. The National Raisin Company cut its costs in half with the installation of a printer directly into the production line.
Some other benefits of maintenance-free coding and marking are:
- Suitability for a wide range of industrial needs
- Simple integration into existing machine systems
- Remote-control printing capability
REA JET has coding and marking solutions for companies of all sizes and across all industries.