FEATURE SORTING & PACKING EQUIPMENT
Bringing distribution centre science to the art of retail
by Karen Bomber, director of retail industry marketing, Honeywell Safety F
aced with the seemingly unlimited pace of change of the e-commerce
revolution, many brick-and-mortar retailers have been focusing on integrating their in-store and online experiences to stay competitive. However, being able to deliver a seamless retail experience in- store, online, and for delivery remains the biggest challenge retailers currently face, as it requires more data integration and knowledge of what is happening on their retail selling floor. This is where technology such as guided work systems, already widespread in the material handling sector, can be deployed to improve store operations and increase customer satisfaction and profitability. Following years and years of refining the customer experience, brick-and- mortar stores typically operate more like an art. On the other hand, the distribution centres responsible for keeping store shelves stocked and fulfilling online purchases have invested years in the science of enhancing operations to achieve productivity, accuracy and consistency gains. They are task-oriented, process-focused environments, which is why retailers should look to them for inspiration. According to a recent study conducted by Honeywell and YouGov, the majority of retailers (56 per cent) believe they simply aren’t doing enough to meet today’s customer expectations. In particular, many of them show low confidence in how they perform against competitors in areas including handling returns and POS
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experience and 1 in 2 sees ‘serving the customer in a timely and efficient manner’ as one of their investment priorities for the next two years. This includes speeding up the point-of-sale process, providing convenient delivery options for customers – such as ‘buy online, pick up in-store’ – and seamless delivery between online and retail stores. To address these challenges, retailers need to look to improve many of their workflows, including order fulfillment, shelf replenishment and inventory management. This is where guided work software and voice systems can help.
The new depth of data that software and voice-based systems bring can, for example, help retailers reduce the number of out-of-stock items on the shelves and communicate daily inventory levels to central operations much more quickly and easily. The distribution centres providing stock to the storefronts are then able to make more accurate decisions about the amount of goods to send with each shipment. Store managers can quickly identify items that are incorrectly included in the shipments they receive. Using voice commands, workers can more quickly identify and document shop floor issues, such as missing shelf tags, incorrect set- up of marketing displays and new product introductions that might need attention from the next shift. Guided work systems can also play a
key role in improving worker management, both from a store operation perspective and a worker
SEPTEMBER 2018 | MATERIALS HANDLING & LOGISTICS
By using proven technology that brings ‘science’ into their operations, retailers will be able to improve the user experience and gain a competitive edge
utilisation perspective. Faced with high employee turnover in the retail sector, stores must ensure new workers know where the products are in the aisle. Using a voice-directed solution to tackle this issue helps new workers in two ways. First, the system directs them to the specific location so they know exactly where to go, helping them learn the aisle layouts and reducing the number of steps they have to take each day. Second, the workers consistently place the correct product in the correct location on the display. A guided work software solution can prioritise specific tasks, such as ensuring promotional items are stocked on marketing displays before aisle shelves. It is also possible to measure data points, such as the length of time that work processes take, how many items are put away and the number of over-shipments. Using this data, the store managers can then better align employee hours with shipment volume to prevent understaffing or overstaffing a shift. Retailers today face more complexity than ever, with expanding inventories, tighter margins and the need to deliver a high-quality customer experience no matter the channel. But greater complexity also brings greater opportunity. By using proven technology that brings ‘science’ into their operations, retailers will be able to improve the user experience and gain a competitive edge.
Honeywell Safety & Productivity Solutions
www.honeywellaidc.com T: +44 1344 656 000
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