Getting Started with Automation
What are the steps to consider when getting started with automating your warehouse?
Step One: Start with data collection
Traditionally in warehouses, data is collected is through handwritten notes on paper or manually entered or re-entered data entry. This data is stored on a spreadsheet or an existing legacy database. As you can imagine, it’s not the most efficient or reliable method, and yet a vast majority of warehouses still use physical processes.
Perhaps the most significant demonstration of the effectiveness of automation is in receiving activities.
For example, when a shipment arrives at your warehouse, employees inspect each box or item on the pallet, they write down or type in the SKU and quantity, before being stored in bins. Each time your employee enters a SKU, amount, or any other type of information, there’s a possibility of human error, such as a re-ordering of numbers. Now that error is recorded, and in the “data-base” it can impact an entire order, as incorrectly captured data for that material is binned, transferred, picked, packed and then shipped.
In this example a customer could potentially end up with the wrong product altogether because the “1” that was mistaken for a “7” on the SKU represents a different item, setting off the costly return process. You also run the risk of a dissatisfied customer. It will significantly affect your reputation among vendors and consumers.
That’s just 1 SKU!
Automating the data collection process, removes the opportunity for human error, significantly reducing the chance that the item will be improperly received, stored, transferred, picked, packed, or shipped to the customer.
Step Two: Get Control of Your Inventory
Your inventory data is only as good as the quality of the information you collect. Now that your data is collected with maximum accuracy through automation, it’s time to put it to use for inventory control. Inventory management allows the product data captured in receiving to be updated in real-time as inventory transactions take place.
For example, employees can scan products in receiving, automatically capturing data at the receiving dock. Another employee scans the bin where the stock will be stored. All these movements and activities are tracked in a WMS. It knows where to find the inventory and how much is on-hand in those particular bins. Transfers are also captured and stored.
Because all the movements of the items were captured by mobile scanners, when it comes time to pull that inventory for an order, the picker has an exact count of that stock. Once picked, the items are scanned, and the quantity updated with the handheld scanner. Again, these transactions are sent to Sage in real-time.
In addition to updating the remaining inventory levels, your shippers have the right product in the right amount; it is then sent to the customer. Also, managers can now see that the newly pulled items have caused the level of stock to fall below the re-order threshold. Having accurate counts, managers don’t have to guess or take chances, let alone risk an inconvenient stockout.
Step Three: Implement a Warehouse Management System (WMS)
The definition of a WMS, or Warehouse Management System, is a software platform that takes over and automates your internal logistics to make intelligent, real-time decisions that direct your worker movements through the warehouse with maximum efficiency. WMS helps you control and tracks the movement of materials in your warehouse, but with far more functionality and operational flexibility. WMS software provides a high level of control and resource utilization tracking for product movement and storage in and around your warehouse.
Developed out of the realization that warehouse employees spend a significant chunk of their time walking around the warehouse. Employees can spend up to 60% of their time trying to locate items. That’s just on task. Your warehouse team also spends time commuting to-and-from locations during receiving, putaway, restocking/replenishing, and fulfilling orders. Looking at your daily maintenance tasks, such as trying to find space for incoming products, moving stock around and cleaning/reorganizing, and it becomes clear how many opportunities there are to lose out on efficiency.
Warehouse management software can streamline time-consuming tasks by directing warehouse processes like picking, putaway, and replenishment. A WMS will also optimize activity paths that cut out unnecessary movement and minimize the time it takes to perform each action. Combined with the ability to direct and validate inventory transactions as it flows through the warehouse, WMS solutions have the potential to provide significant gains in efficiency, productivity, and cost-cutting.
Choosing a WMS solution requires some homework. One can quickly be taken down the road to an expensive and resource-heavy solution. For most companies, a simplified WMS alternative is an option. These solutions can offer much of the core functionality of a full WMS but, without the complexity, expense, or upkeep. Products like Scanco Warehouse & Multi-bin can be deployed rapidly without intruding on existing infrastructure, connects directly to your Sage ERP, and offers an ROI in months instead of years.
Regardless of your choice, it’s essential to also have a thorough project plan in place before moving forward. Implementing a WMS can be complicated. It requires close integration with existing warehouse processes and workflows. Also, your warehouse needs to remain up and running at full speed while any new system is tested, integrated, and deployed. At least until your team has had a chance to learn the new system, like any form of change management, an effective plan can make the difference between implementation success or failure.