FEATURE WAREHOUSING & MATERIALS HANDLING
Five key trends
in smart
2020 was a year like no other, but what about warehousing in 2021, asks Tim Wright, Managing Director of Invar Systems who discusses five key trends
1
. The ecommerce dilemma and micro- fulfilment centres
Ecommerce has boomed during the pandemic, but what will happen when restrictions are lifted? Will shoppers return to the high street in the same numbers? Retail’s dilemma over where to invest, or how to best serve the customer whilst leveraging advantage from real estate commitments is likely to result in the rise of micro-fulfilment centres. These will be small, highly-automated facilities placed within urban areas, close to the customer, and may well be located within existing retail stores. Low-cost, scaleable automation will allow the retailer to be far more responsive to customer demand, facilitating rapid 2-3hr home delivery or pick-up. Similarly, micro-automated facilities for consolidating parcel deliveries are being planned by carriers or municipal authorities to rationalise ‘last mile’ deliveries in urban areas. These local consolidation hubs will require close collaboration between stakeholders, but would enable customers to pick up a number of parcels ordered from different retailers using a pin code at an ATM-style service point. Rising environmental concerns over clean air and congestion will drive a radical transformation of urban logistics. Micro-fulfilment technology is set to accelerate in 2021 as it can be easily replicated and deployed as a network solution. 2. Agility, resilience and space After the shocks of 2020, large retailers and manufactures will be looking to build greater resilience into their supply chains by sourcing from a broader base of suppliers, many of which may be much smaller, more local businesses. These suppliers will need to adopt systems and agile processes that allow them to perform to the exacting standards demanded by large retail clients.
14 APRIL 2021 | IRISH MANUFACTURING
For many, this will mean upgrading warehouse management systems and creating agility through the use of flexible and scaleable automation. Creating resilience inevitably also means holding more stock, which translates into needing more warehousing. Pressure on available warehouse space will be a major issue in 2021 and beyond. Businesses will need to design automation cleverly for peaks, allowing for scaleability, and invest in low-capex projects that create value immediately.
3. Digital transformation Competitiveness depends on the business’s access to and analysis of data. A smart business will be developing smart warehouses where robots, pickers, packaging machines and sorters are seamlessly integrated to produce, not only optimum performance, but valuable data that is shared in real-time with wider systems. Warehouses and fulfilment centres will become more integrated, more intelligent and more connected. On the control side, field-mounted devices are advancing rapidly, facilitating plug ‘n’ play options for rapid installation, the flexible expansion of systems or the fast replacement of components. Preventative maintenance is also taking a step forward with predictive analytics, facilitated by Profinet (Process Field Net) and BPN connections to end devices for fast collection of data and remote support. 4. Brexit Complexity over Brexit paperwork for consignments destined for Europe has already caused considerable distress, with vehicles held up at customs points due to incomplete manifests and missing data. As a matter of urgency, many organisations will need to upgrade their systems to cope, aligning warehouse management systems with new customs requirements. In turn, there’s increased likelihood that
warehousing for 2021 and beyond
European businesses hold more stock in the UK, placing higher levels of demand on UK warehousing space. Similarly, UK companies are expected to create inventory holdings on the other side of the Channel, all demanding greater visibility of inventory across multiple locations, requiring intelligent warehouse management software capable of providing the complete picture.
Invar Group
www.invarsystems. com
Brexit’s impact on overseas labour, the rise in National Living Wage to £8.72 for employees over 25 years of age and social distancing requirements are pushing businesses into introducing higher levels of automation into their warehouse processes. Adopting intelligent software and new advanced technologies, such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), is the way forward for many businesses, particularly SMEs, which will move to leverage the flexibility, speed and performance of goods-to-person automation in their warehouse operations. 5. The year of the robot 2021 will be the year of the robot. The last 12 months has opened the eyes of omni-channel retailers to the vulnerability of highly manual processes. Their almost complete reliance on online sales during the pandemic has emphasised the critical necessity for reliable fulfilment and the efficient picking and packing of single and small multiples of order items. Autonomous mobile robots offer the flexibility, speed and performance needed for efficient goods-to-person automation. Importantly, they offer scaleability too, which is critical to allowing businesses to roll out the technology as the demands of the business dictate. AMR systems combined with pick-to-light technology can boost order-picking performance from under 100 units per hour using traditional methods to up to 600 picks per hour, with an ROI within as little as 12 months.
/ IRISHMANUFACTURING
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