Modern warehouse processes in the work with inventory
Modern warehouse processes in the work with inventory
How to optimize the route of goods, speed up delivery to the consumer, increase the inventory turnover and the retailer's profit? Continuing the topic of inventory management, let's talk about methods, tools and solutions for automating goods handling in warehouses. What is relevant now, and what warehouse processes in working with inventory are truly effective? Details are in our article!
Cross-docking - handling inventory without storage
The cross-docking scheme can be applied to work with both external suppliers and other third parties. This rather interesting process has proven its effectiveness in the supply chain of its own commodity logistics. That is, cross-docking can work between warehouses and other divisions of the company. For example, between stores where a relationship of trust exists, or between warehouses for finished goods, a distribution center, and branches. Also, the warehouse process can work between two independent branches by exchanging inventory when the assortment of branches does not cross.
Why is cross-docking good? The fact that it can be:
- Transit or detailed, when product recount may be applied during acceptance.
- Black box or without detailed recount, using container reception using electronic document management or direct data entry.
In addition to cross-docking, there are a number of interesting warehouse processes in modern trends when working with products by balance. They will be discussed further.
Manufacturing and packaging are becoming popular in retail
In those companies that diversify their business or include in it such areas as production or packaging of products, there is often an acute question of how to establish processes or integrate them into existing logistics. Packing, as a type of warehouse handling of goods, is a great way to create additional value for goods. At the same time, the production of an additional range of products allows the retailer to gain a competitive advantage in the market.
So in distribution logistics there is such a warehouse process as production, during which products can be assembled and packaged. Thus, a new article is formed, which will be supplied to the trading network.
The production process can be implemented and controlled in the warehouse using C4R warehouse automation solutions based on WMS systems. This warehouse process can be implemented in two ways:
- PUSH is a process when all decisions about what and in what quantity needs to be produced today are concentrated in one responsible point of the distribution center.
- PULL process - when commodity logistics makes a request, it creates a demand for a certain amount of products. Then the distribution center, upon availability of orders, prepares and assembles the required number of sets. And these sets will be subsequently formed according to orders and shipped to the retail network.
The second mechanism is quite common in post-Soviet countries, since many of this warehouse process are conducted and taken into account in the central system, and in commodity logistics it does not always refer to intralogistics. Therefore, there is more of a question about the organization of business accounting, to which department to attribute this process and the costs associated with it, as well as the additional cost that it generates.
Welcome to check your logistics business processes: download the checklist 'Warehouse Process Management: WVO' and see where and how improvements can be made.
Repackaging in stock handling
In modern tools for working with inventory, it is also worth noting the repackaging process, which forms an additional cost for warehouse logistics. Most often, you can find one of two ways:
- collected goods can be packed immediately during the selection from each counterparty;
- goods can be packaged in a separate sorting area and packed in the desired container, containers, thermoboxes.
Packaging and repackaging are very popular warehouse handling methods in e-commerce. Many orders come from the Internet, and there are many lines in the order. In this case, these orders can be identified according to a certain characteristic. For example, a business partner is a natural person or it is a specific group of business partners and their order has specific attributes. Such attributes indicate that the order requires repackaging. The presence of such an identifier directs the movement of the flow of goods in such a way that the products will be assembled consolidated under the data of the application.
In the future, the flow will be redistributed between different containers, containers, depending on the routes, according to client locations. This is convenient when there are many customer orders traveling in one van. In such cases, it also makes sense to sort these orders by directions, points, routes, addresses.
Modern tools for working with inventory
It is also worth noting that all these warehouse processes use certain tools and technologies, they can only be introduced into the process, or they can be in operation for some time. Of course, during the processing of goods, you can work using paper media, but advanced technologies are increasingly breaking into warehouse processes, speeding up processing and increasing its accuracy.
We have compiled a selection of the most popular tools. Some of them are widely used, while others are only preparing to be a breakthrough in the near future. So, here they are:
In the modern world, in addition to tablets and smartphones, industrial tablets are widely used. There are more and more of them in warehouse technologies. The devices are designed for corporate use, have increased security for work in warehouse conditions, and take into account a large list of requirements of business users.
Smartwatches, which direct the picker along a certain route and move the selection of goods according to the algorithm set by the system, at the same time allow additional communication with the manager.
- In recent years, more and more often in discussions mention work through a headset in the form of glasses and, in general, technology for working through digital glasses - Google Glass or Zebra Glass. However, this technology has not yet been fully mastered and not prepared for industrial use. Therefore, it cannot be declared as a technology that can be key and basic for warehouse processing of goods.
- But on the other hand, the key technology for picking and sorting can be called automated lines, sorting stations, sorting systems, sorters. Such systems direct the flow of goods according to a certain algorithm, distribute it according to flows and characteristics. This is a proven technology that gets up and running.
- Other companies choose less expensive technologies for validating transactions and combine the work of TSD with RFID tags, electronic labels and other additional identifiers.
To determine what kind of commodity processing will be effective in your distribution center, you should simulate these processes. Detailed models allow you to take into account the cost of labor, investment in equipment and the construction of a process for processing goods flow. Such modeling is carried out by our specialists within the framework of consulting projects in retail and warehouse maps.
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Author of the material Vladimir Adamov,
Head of Logistics at Consulting for Retail
