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 eff...

DEMYSTIFYING ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION IN SUPPLY CHAIN Well, let's start with the definition of Robotic Process Automation [aka RPA] Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is defined as the application of technology that allows employees in a company to configure computer software or a “robot” to capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other digital systems. Warming up to RPA In optimizing their supply chains, companies across many industries — manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and more — have long relied on a range of technologies: WMS [warehouse management system], TMS [transportation management system], ERP [enterprise resource planning], CRM [customer relationship management], and RFID [radio frequency identification].  However, with continuing advancements in the evolution of the automation technology, the incorporation of cognitive and knowledge-based capabilit...

WHAT'S ALL THE HOOPLA AROUND OMNI-CHANNEL? There are a lot of talks happening around Omni-Channel initiatives in supply chain industry among solution providers, the retailers, and not to forget the trade publications.  So it's important, as well as imperative, to cut through the hype and get down to its essence: A customer wants a product, and the path to that product must be short, readily available and  consistently support the brand promise. Channels are merely  vehicles on that path. technology-enabled shopping options The expansion of both brick-and-mortar and virtual retail channels creates a wide range of customer touch points  — stores, outlet locations,  e-commerce sites, social media commerce, catalogs and possibly seasonal or short-term locations such as pop-up stores. And no matter where the  customer makes her purchase, she expects fast, hassle-free, flawless fulfillment. Now, let's focus on the details. WHAT CUSTOMERS WA...