By Amy Hillard, Americas Vertical Marketing Lead – MFG and T&L, Zebra Technologies Corporation
Our corporate partners are an essential piece to delivering exceptional results to our clients. We value their thought leadership and enjoy sharing it with our own network of clients, employees and partners. Today, Amy Hillard from Zebra Technologies shares insight with us about warehousing.
It’s no secret that e-commerce is changing the landscape of warehousing. Forrester Research estimates that online sales in the U.S. will increase 56%—from $335 billion to $523 billion—over the next five years. Coupled with ever-growing consumer expectations for instant gratification, the pressure on warehouses is set to grow exponentially.
So how do industry leaders plan to keep up with these unprecedented demands? The short answer is technology investment. A recent survey of more than 1,300 IT and operations warehouse professionals across 12 countries revealed some compelling trends.
The numbers are clear. If you’re not planning to upgrade your warehouse technology, you’re in the minority.
Let’s delve deeper into this survey, conducted anonymously by Zebra, and explore what the warehouse of tomorrow might look like.
Lean, Streamlined Operations
According to the Zebra Warehouse Vision Report, 76% of professionals are planning to increase the number of warehouses and distribution centers, while 61% plan to reduce space expansions and relocate existing structures. This would result in a greater number of smaller facilities, spread further apart. In addition, 58% plan to invest in warehouse/truck loading automation technology.
The intent? Slash transportation costs (a major factor driving change according to 43% of respondents), speed up delivery times (critical to 41% of those surveyed), and take full advantage of new supplier and partner locations (important to 32% of decision makers).
A Productive, Connected Workforce
Forty-six percent of respondents cited labor performance/productivity and order turnaround time as the largest picking and fulfillment issues, with order accuracy just behind at 41%. Considering that picking and fulfillment use 70% of a facility’s operating costs, it’s no wonder industry leaders are laser-focused on making improvements in this area.
Equipping staff with advanced technologies such as wearables, mobile handheld computers, and tablets can significantly impact your bottom line. For instance, multi-modal wearable solutions take advantage of the full spectrum of workers’ capabilities by:
- Enabling voice-directed, hands-free picking
- Allowing staff to view items and pick locations on screen
- Simplifying barcode and RFID tag scanning
- Facilitating easy input of information via touchscreen
The result? According to recent data, multi-modal wearable solutions can improve picking and fulfillment productivity by 15% and reduce errors by 39%.
Complete visibility
The survey revealed that 62% of warehouse professionals plan to invest in the Internet of Things (IoT) to gain unprecedented visibility into every facet of the supply chain.
With the application of the IoT, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology gives managers the ability to know the precise location of everything from individual pallets to cases to SKUs at any given moment. No wonder over half of survey respondents plan to more than double their usage of RFID for cycle counts and inventory validation by 2020.
As retailers strive to merge physical and digital operations, cut transportation costs, and improve efficiency, the transition to best-of-breed, real-time warehouse management systems is nearly ubiquitous. But perhaps the most enticing aspect of the warehouse of tomorrow is that it can be achieved today. See the full Zebra Warehouse Vision Report to learn more.
Offering an unparalleled portfolio of enterprise-level solutions, from RFID, barcoding and computing, to wearables, printers and software, Zebra is committed to making businesses as smart and connected as the world we live in. www.zebra.com.