solutions development and data analytics with VARGO, a provider of material handling solutions. Over the past few years, WES solutions have advanced in many ways. Artificial intelligence and neural logic help some solutions make complex decisions, while integration and implementation time continue to compress. “The typical integration layer for a deployment is a simple set of messages that allows these projects to get off the ground quickly and also ramp to standard operations in short time frames,” Pulfer says. The Chemours Company, a global chemistry company, is investing heavily in digital and automated tools to optimize order fulfillment, says Christopher Young, supply chain director, titanium technologies. For instance, it’s using drones with its warehouse management tools to ensure faster product throughput and detect potential issues before they slow production. LOOKING AHEAD Advances in supply chain technology show no signs of slowing. At least a few companies are keeping pace. One example: For the past few years, DHL Express has been on a digitalization journey, says Zenaida Villatoro, senior director, engineering, the Americas. The transportation provider has added to or opened fully automated hubs to process packages, and implemented various solutions, like robotics and robotic arms, that can boost efficiency and add value to employees’ work. A sortation arm added to the company’s Miami service center can sort 35% more packages per hour. Automation is now “embedded into facility design,” Villatoro says. She and her colleagues are exploring a range of solutions—including AMRs, robotics, and sortation systems—as well as emerging technologies, like autonomous vehicles and software that can better integrate AI into cameras and scanning devices to enhance visibility. “The beauty of this space is that it continues to evolve,” she says. n
Virtual reality speeds warehouse automation training at a GE Appliance distribution center in Commerce, Georgia, by immersing employees in a computer-generated environment that closely resembles the job.
pickers to select customer orders, are decoupled from aisles so inventory in any aisle can go to any station. The shelving unit—or cube—can extend up to 40 feet. This leverages underutilized ceiling height and enables higher storage density relative to manual fulfillment operations. WES PULLS IT TOGETHER Many warehouses operate myriad systems and solutions, like multiple racking and ASRS solutions, and different robotic solutions, among others. Few managers have the time to deal with a separate system for each function. Warehouse execution systems (WES) can help by orchestrating orders through a distribution center, enabling shippers to meet service level agreements. The solutions also “allow leaders to plan for the whole warehouse and send execution tasks to each hardware system,” says Chuck Christensen, transportation and logistics practice lead with PwC. Removing the need to interact with each system individually
Betamax recorders, given the generally large investments of time and money they require. That doesn’t seem to be occurring, however. “Large scale automation is not going away,” Klappich says. The reason? Once a company has recouped its investment, even if it takes years, the variable cost per unit falls almost to zero. Like other technologies, the ASRS market continues to evolve. For instance, AMRs might be a component of an ASRS solution. It’s also becoming more common to see robots supplementing humans in ASRS applications, aided by the increasing robustness of machine learning and vision software. Fabric offers a cube-based ASRS solution that allows users to operate in smaller areas. For example, its 7,000-square-foot facility in Brooklyn, New York, can work with 23,000 items per day. The Fabric solution can generate three times the fulfillment capacity with 60% less labor, in the same square footage, when compared to a manual operation, the company says. To accomplish this, Fabric took the traditional ASRS shuttle-based solution and built a cube-based system that decouples the lift robot and ground robot, eliminating single points of failure and providing flexibility. Stations, or touchpoints where goods-to-person robots bring inventory totes for order
saves time and cuts complexity. A WES can synchronize and
sequence, among other systems, the ASRS, goods-to-person stations, unit sorters, carton/tote sorters, and AMRs. “It’s bringing all these technologies together and creating a symbiotic process,” says Brian Pulfer, manager of
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