Reasons, Debates and Stories

We are nowadays talking about Flexible Warehouse - where a flexible workforce would handle flexible production with the help of flexible automation giving an increased production output to handle the rapid changes to meet the demand. Consumers at Forefront The evolution of consumerism in conjunction with the explosion of e-commerce has profoundly impacting material handling automation. Warehouses, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers earlier used to maintain a straightforward focus on shipping full pallets and larger units, but e-commerce created the need to ship goods at case, split-case, each, and even item levels. And add to it, the need for omni-channel fulfillment and customer’s expectation on faster deliveries. As a result, materials handling automation strategies and operations at many distribution centers have undergone radical change.  Robots to the Rescue This shift means that warehouse automation solutions must be equipped to effecti

Demand Sensing Demand Sensing is a forecasting method that leverages new mathematical techniques and near real-time information to create an accurate forecast of demand, based on the current realities of the supply chain rather than past sales. Evolving customer behavior and rising market volatility have underscored the opportunity to sense and react in near real-time to changes to changes in the demand supply network.  Demand Sensing enables to incorporate downstream data with minimal latency to understand what is being sold, who is buying the product, and the impact of demand‐shaping programs.  These three demand elements are then translated into requirements to craft a profitable demand response through internal processes for demand translation. Why use Demand Sensing? Better forecasts translate directly into better business decisions, which can affect many Key Performance Indicators (KPI) closely monitored by management: Supply Chain KPI's: