FEATURE Automated warehousing
Fulfi lling the future E
-commerce is quickly supplanting traditional retail, creating a 24/7 economy where consumer orders must be fulfi lled as quickly as
possible and without errors. This boom is challenging enough in isolation, but other conditions play a role, too: First, reshoring of supply chains is bringing fulfi lment centres closer to home. Businesses are looking to insulate operations from disruption, moving facilities nearer to customers, to shorten delivery times. However, space on the planet is fi nite, which often restricts the size of available warehousing or what can be built locally. Companies must be fl exible to fi t in the space that is available, which often means maximising the existing footprint. Then, there’s the labour. Existing
warehouse personnel manually transporting goods every day to meet ever-rising fulfi lment targets is physically unsustainable and incompatible with next-day delivery. Equally, at present there are simply not enough workers available. Hence, existing staff need assistance to improve work circumstances, forgoing manual labour in favour of more effi cient tasks suited to their skillset. Sustainability is important, too. Eff orts to minimise the environmental footprint and building multiple large warehouses are often mutually exclusive, which means smaller, more space-effi cient sites are needed. This in turn means higher racking and more optimised inventories – a compact, local operation consumes less energy and reduces emissions.
Fulfilment through automation Against all this, automation futureproofs warehouse operations. Applicable to every aspect of a fulfi lment centre, it facilitates the operational effi ciencies required to achieve higher delivery targets, all whilst optimising local sites and reducing the burden on personnel.
Application of automation begins when factory goods arrive at the warehouse. Semi-automated systems can unload stock onto conveyors, which is then scanned, sorted and transferred to storage. At this point, an automatic storage and retrieval system can track and pick items for an order in the correct sequence. Personnel then take items and pack them into a box provided by robots. Once packaged, a
34 October 2023 | Automation
By Hans Jongebloed, Senior Postal and Parcel Expert at Prime Vision
robot closes and seals the box and applies a barcode, transferring it to the delivery point or vehicle. Artifi cial intelligence (AI) can supplement these activities. AI-driven analytical software can identify correlations across order data, seeing trends like order peaks and throughs for products, or locations where large quantities of an item are needed. This will help with stock replenishment when needed, reducing the likelihood of shortages. When paired with cameras, AI-enabled systems can also double-check storage racking, and cross reference it with stocks, spotting empty spaces and topping up inventory if required.
The beauty of this automated
warehouse system is its division of labour. Robots take on the strenuous manual work, with precision, repeatability and speed. Conversely, personnel can focus on the system oversight and value- added tasks. This delegation leads to greater effi ciency. Automation optimises processes, allowing higher fulfi lment targets to be achieved, overcoming potential labour shortages. Critically, it also ensures that these levels of service can be attained whilst reducing the burden on employees, protecting personal wellbeing. A more-effi cient warehouse can translate into a smaller warehouse. Automatic storage and retrieval systems allow racking to be taller, improving on-site storage capacity. More stock can be held in less space, enabling smaller facilities to be more fl exible and effi cient.
Autonomous mobile robots should also be considered. Conveyor systems are another option to transport parcels around the warehouse, but they are costly, static and can only be optimised once – so they can’t grow with the business. Contrary to conveyors, robots can be programmed to travel new routes.
Starting point
Deploying scaleable solutions that can grow with the needs of a business is essential and an automatic storage and retrieval system is a good starting point. This greatly improves fulfi lment effi ciency, saves space, reduces the burden on personnel and can automate up to 80% of operations. Prime Vision’s solutions fi t seamlessly within existing frameworks. Our robotic systems off er a 35kg carrying capacity and can detect packages from 100g. At 1m high and loading surface of 80cm x 60cm, they have the capacity, scaleability and fl exibility to meet multiple parcel demands.
Computer vision technology means that
addresses, barcodes and other product information can be quickly scanned and utilised by warehouse systems. Our solutions can even read damaged labels and confi rm stock quantities, which allows inventory to be fully optimised and traced. Data gathered by vision systems can then be harnessed by our analytics software. Consequently, order trends can be identifi ed and stocking levels automatically adjusted to suit the requirements of certain time periods or warehouse locations.
automationmagazine.co.uk
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