21 Mar

Creating “Smarter” Warehouses and Improving Supply Chain Automation

Zebra Technologies recently conducted a survey to analyze the state of the warehousing market. The resulting report, Building the Smarter Warehouse: Warehousing 2020 Vision Report, highlights their findings in detail.

To summarize:  The industry is in a state of growth thanks in large part to a surge in omnichannel ordering.  The supply chain ecosystem is changing, and operations professionals are taking a hard look at how to adjust processes to improve supply chain automation and stay competitive. Said differently: To keep up with increasing demand, organizations are investing in the future to “build a smarter warehouse.”

Top initiatives listed in the report include equipping staff with technology and increasing the use of barcode scanning.

Top 10 Technology Investmentssource

In addition, organizations are taking steps to improve inventory accuracy by “replacing pen and paper spreadsheets with mobile handheld computers and tablets that provide real-time access to warehouse management systems.”

Importance of Inventory Accuracysource

Some of the other trends listed in the report include:

  • An increased usage of RFID technology which can dramatically increase inventory visibility
  • A move towards the implementation of multi-modal picking solutions to increase efficiency
  • An increase in green initiatives

Is your organization ready to compete with the warehouse of the future? Contact the SMS Group now so that we can help get your company ready and keep your customers satisfied.

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