The warehouse automation projects are at the forefront of these days, as companies are looking for ways to fill requests faster, more accurate and more expensive than traditional manual processes. This is largely due to the common pressures for demanding e -commerce, employment challenges, and the need to improve the area as warehouses everywhere seek to achieve the maximum benefit from its resources.
“Everyone is always looking for how they can do the same or more than that,” says Wadi Brown, Regional Director of Integration of Systems at Bastian Solutions, pointing to the challenges of employment, increased productivity, and improving safety and work environment as a success behind many warehouse automation projects today. “We have a lot of customer partners recently whose business grows in itself. However, they need this [serve more locations] Outside their current facilities. “
Warehouse automation can bear the answer to these challenges, but experts say it is important to move carefully and deliberately when you start the automatic operating trip.
“Put a much larger layout in the design phase before purchase – more than you think,” says Kyle Brook, Vice President of S&H. “If you are trying to buy in a hurry, perhaps postpone it for a year [focus on the project]”
So before you jump in the foreground to the new AS/RS storage and retrieval system, or a mechanical selection solution, or a fleet of independent independent mobile robots (AMRS), consider these three steps that can help you put you on the road to a successful project.
I am looking for a reliable partner
The first step is to choose reliable experts to help you during this process. This means often rented integration of systems that oversees the entire project, from planning and design to installation and Go-Live. Trust is an essential element in the relationship, according to Bruun.
He says: “Whether you are emerging, or commercial works for the mother and pop on the first automation project, or an experienced company, be sure to find a integration that looks forward to being a partner on your automation trip-someone you can rely on and trust as an extension of your work during your growth.” “This is where we see the greatest success for our customers – when they allow us to enter and trust us to be [right there] Next to the automation journey. “
This also means being transparent about your company’s capabilities, long -term plans, and project goals. When considering automation, make sure that you are working with a thicker peak size and growth expectations, for example.
“One one, I know your work,” added Brown. “Often than you think, we hear from potential customer partners who do not know their data. They need to know what they know and what they do not know, and what they are trying to design in the future – and we can help in that. Sometimes, customers provide data as a reality, in fact, that was actually guessing at that time.”
In line with that, Brock says it is important for customers to understand and exchange any fluctuations in their business.
“Initially, it is really important to understand violations in your work throughout the year,” he explained, noting that designing a system to deal with the average peak size is not always enough. “Come to discover that there are slight advertising campaigns or SKU [stock-keeping unit] Changes throughout the year [not conform with the way the system was designed to be used]. You really have to look at the data in a frustrating way to ensure that the system can deal with it. “
Another major point, Nick Patel, Vice President of Systems Integration Systems, says another major point: involving a partner that can help you “cut off chaos” in the market.
“Do your search. Don’t jump to the latest noise without the required due care,” says Patel. “You want to work with the integration that focuses on the process and solve your work problem. Otherwise, you may end up with a large investment in the capital in automated operation that does not get the return on the investment that you can achieve.”
Plan – and it is flexible
Flexibility is another important part of the planning puzzle – because companies are always witnessing a change, either through acquisition, geographical expansion, diversification of products, or so on. Patel says that any supply chain project will deviate from these larger decisions.
“The way my group deals [is to ensure that] “Every design we do is … very flexible and developing, and this allows our customers in general to mutating, within the limits of reason, for any changes that occur at work. To really rid implementation, you must spend a lot of time at the forefront, which makes the design flexible.”
Brown agrees, adding that very few projects these days are “very clear.”
“when [my team] He says: “Feeling this way, I ask them to dig deeper, because there is usually” Gotcha “will form problems in the future. You must identify these problems and advance them.”
Another factor must be taken into account: the continuous costs to maintain any system that you finally install.
“This is often missed until it is too late in the game: Understand the continuous costs of the right system [and how that affects] “Your investment returns, adding that any robotic solution or automation will depend on programs, which requires long -term support,” says Brook. You have to understand the annual cost of this support and uplifting over the years. “
Training your “system expert”
Finally, not another, be sure to appoint an internal project hero – someone is charged with understanding the system and how to operate it, inside and out.
“Some of our customers do not fully understand, operating, how to achieve the maximum benefit from resolving the warehouse automation they just bought – or they do not fully understand how the system is designed to operate it,” Braun explains. “Even after months of meetings … there can sometimes be a separation between the final user project team and its operating team. Even some of the big customer partners have really fallen victim to this in the past. It can happen to anyone.”
Basically, integration and technology partners will provide training on how to use the system, but your team needs someone who can connect everything together when the time comes to live.
“We find that it is better for our customers when they have either an operating team or in fact just a unique individual of his full -time work is to know everything that can be known about this new automation system,” says Brown. Customer [can experience] Operating challenges if they do not have this system’s expert for the two heroes really [and take] Ownership of the system from the inside. “
These problems have become more severe because it becomes more affordable for companies to automate their warehouse operations.
“There is a low entry barrier now,” Brock added, noting that small and medium -sized companies have access to solutions that they may not have tolerated a few years ago. “When we put automation, we explain it [if] We will run this system in August 2025, you need to make sure that you have the appropriate work and resources to operate it. “
For some companies, this means employing external experts who have experience in managing the system who can help develop this internal hero.
But whatever the path you choose, cooperation is the key.
“The most successful integration that I was part of is the one in which my customers participated in a very cooperative way to develop a comprehensive solution,” Patel added. “We are not doing the project ** ITAL {to} You; We do that ** ITAL {with} You.”
