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Practical overview
One of the biggest challenges for businesses across industries is managing their warehouse and material handling processes efficiently and accurately. With supply chain problems continuing to cause delays in both raw materials and manufactured goods, businesses are feeling the pressure to reduce lead times to gain a competitive edge in the market. One method some are finding valuable is implementing more automation in their warehousing processes.
Not only can utilizing automation help monitor and track product as it moves in and out of the warehouse, but it can also alleviate strain on employees working to pick products to be shipped out or moved to the manufacturing lines for processing.
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Implementing Intelligent Motion Technology
Incorporating precision conveyors with a product management system, for example, means businesses can rely on the accuracy and repeatability of intelligent motion systems, at a significantly faster speed than team members manually picking, sorting, and processing product. This can greatly improve the efficiency and productivity of a warehouse, and free up team members to work on more challenging tasks.
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How to Choose a Warehouse Automation System
The automation system you need will depend on your warehouse, goals, and the operations currently run at your facility. For example, in a sprawling warehouse with lots of inventory and a huge footprint, combining a storage and retrieval system with AMRs can help reduce the time it would take to pick and transport product from the shelf to production or shipping while also increasing the accuracy of the product retrieved from storage.
However, if your warehouse is relatively small and easy for employees to maneuver, you may only need a product indexing and sorting conveyance line to scan and sort products once they’ve been picked off the shelves and transfer them to the next step in processing.
Other factors that should be considered when looking for warehouse conveyance and automation systems are the size of the products, warehouse environment, processing speed, and budget. These will help you to narrow down the system that will meet the needs of your products and facility.