ADVANCEMENTS IN WAREHOUSING
Warehouses have always played a vital role in the evolution of human civilization from ancient times. The term ‘Warehouse ‘ was first coined in England during the medieval period. The development in transportation and rise in commerce have led to the robust evolution of warehousing. In the earlier times warehousing did not play a vital role in shaping a business. In the present era of globalization warehousing has become an integral part of business worldwide. Globalization has played a major role in uplifting the status of warehousing in trade circles. The digitalization of warehousing has pushed big enterprises and e- commerce
organizations to adopt and implement the latest technologies for managing warehouses.
Present Status of Warehousing
In the present scenario, the Warehouse Management Systems have transformed this sector dramatically. A warehouse management system (WMS) is a software solution that aims to simplify the complexity of managing a warehouse. Enterprises depend on these warehouse management systems for the smooth operation of their businesses. It offers visibility into the entire inventory of business and manages supply chain fulfillment operations from the distribution center to the store shelf.
Warehouse Management (WMS) solutions enable companies to maximize their labor and space utilization by coordinating and optimizing resource usage and material flows. Optimal utilization of resources helps in not only saving cost but also valuable time. Timely execution and delivery is an important aspect of E-commerce and other businesses. WMS systems are tailor made to cater the global supply chain requirements which include demand, supply , distribution, manufacture and service of different goods. Three- fourth of the world’s warehousing operations are undertaken by these warehouse management systems. All kinds of businesses ranging from micro to macro require a smooth automated warehousing system. The typical Warehouse Management Solution is a client and server-based model. There is a shift in this industry that is happening primarily due to the emergence of Cloud-based models.
Benefits of Cloud based Warehouse Management Solution
- It fastens the process of the supply chain system.
- Cloud based technology eliminates the extra cost for software, hardware and professionals required for maintaining the system.
- There is no need to worry about regular updates as they are updated as pre scheduled.
Future of Warehousing
Mankind is making huge inroads in the field of artificial intelligence. In the present day almost every industry has some sort of artificial intelligence integrated to its core in some form or the other. Warehousing is no exception, automated vehicles, automated robots and RFID scanners are used in warehouses globally.
In the coming years AI is going to dominate all industries including warehousing. Warehouses operate in a loop, at times this loop is hindered by certain things like shortage of labor, sudden change in market and natural disasters etc. Artificial intelligence is a solution to fill in some of those gaps.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Warehousing
- AI can eliminate costly human errors, fatigue is a prime cause of errors by humans in warehouses.
- Human labor cannot be excluded or eliminated entirely, but inclusion of AI can increase productivity and clear human errors to a very big extent.
- AI can provide perfect analysis of data and interpret it and forecast future demands and can arrange supply in accordance. Previous data is usually interpreted by AI to come to such analysis.
- AI can reduce cost by increasing efficiency and reducing the need for human labor.
The world is evolving at a tremendous pace and it is best for you to stay ahead of the curve. Global trade is gearing up for the next transition after the pandemic and being aware of Artificial Intelligence will help you to be a forerunner in your domain.