Earlier, the warehouse was merely a building where goods would be stored, and it did not have any direct interaction with the customer. Today after the advent of e-commerce,and tougher competition, there has been a drastic transformation in the role of warehousing. It has emerged as a dynamic mechanism playing a crucial role in the order-fulfillment industry. Its entire focus has shifted from just storage to improving customer service through a warehouse management system.
The customer is the King! The warehouse industry now has to comply with all the latest management systems and tactics to keep their customers happy and improving customer service. Even though a customer will never be face to face with a fulfillment center, if he is disgruntled, it could spell doom for both the company and the service provider.
Nowadays, with warehouses are as vast as 100000 square feet, it becomes essential that all the employees stay connected at all times. Many employers are now equipping their employees with smartphones to streamline communications and improving customer service.
However, many recommend the use of radios. Two-way radios offer a quicker and much direct connection to their employees. They’re also more durable, which is vital in heavy-duty warehouse work.
Wearable GPS devices can be worn on the hip or the wrist. They help the user locate warehouse employees’ on-demand, which allows managers and supervisors to properly delegate tasks based on an employee’s proximity to areas or departments in need of help.
Keeping track of inventory on cloud-based software is the best solution for auditing stock and communicating data between two departments. It can help prevent severe backlogging and shortages.
I have available with me a very extraordinary software system known as IBWMS,which is a fully automated,smart and hyper efficient warehouse created with IOT.A complete knowledge is available on real-time data analytics with active event monitoring,and picking and packing through mobile interface with the help of beacons.
Warehouse management system, IBWMS, offers a plethora of tools to collect and analyze all of the warehouse information to see what is working up to mark and what is not. They can give the statistics on products or individual employees to place things in the most optimal position and speed up the process in fastest manner.
Picking efficiency can be attained by deploying the right picking methodology coupled with the correct technology. The use of wearable and mobile technology can expedite the process by enabling pickers to move across the warehouse freely. At the same time, Radio Frequency Identifiers (RFID) tells them with precision the location of the goods.
The requirement of demand forecasting has been a crucial topic of discussion in the supply chain context, there are three types of forecasting, through algorithms, which are:
Demand forecasting
This elucidates the investigation of the companies’ demand for an item to include current and future demand and product end-use.
Supply forecasting
It describes a collection of data about the producers and suppliers at present, along with technological and political trends that might disrupt supply.
Price forecast
This is the information gathered and analyzed about demand and supply. It provides a concise prediction of short- and long-term prices, trends, and its underlying reasons.
Besides,communication is paramount if the process must place an order from a customer. To avoid miscommunication and reduce expenses, it is highly recommended to offer customers an online portal or a platform through which inventory is seen, select the items they want to ship, and submit the order for processing.
Once the customer places the order, the system will produce a picking list or a loading guide with the items that the customer has selected. It is also recommended that the system provide individual fields for customers to enter detailed instruction if needed, e.g., for re-packaging instructions.
These all magical achievements are possible now through blockchain technology and IBWMS,and all these IOT and AI are available at a very reasonable costs.
