“As a result of the increasing growth and relevance of eCommerce, retailers are taking logistics into their own hands again.”
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Since the global boom of smartphones and smart devices, e-commerce and online shopping has been on a steady rise; and it’s slowly changing the way people purchase goods and the way they are distributed from Distribution Centres to customers. This poses a big challenge for warehouses as the movement of goods to and from warehouses become more rapid.
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In 2007 we saw the launch of the iPhone, heralding a new digitalera. Since then, our personal lives have undergone dramatic change.We are always connected, and able to communicate with the rest of the world anytime and anywhere, generating huge volumes of data.
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Robotics and automation are vital aspects of digital transformation – and human-robot collaboration (HRC) has a pivotal role to play. HRC entails people and machines working not simply alongside each other, but actively cooperating. Contrary to popular belief, automation will not replace humans in the long run. Instead, robots will relieve people of monotone and strenuous activities. In particular, machines can efficiently perform tasks that are potentially unhealthy or very difficult, which will ultimately protect employee well-being.
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Online shopping is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Forecasts show that in 2020, 891 million Chinese citizens will make more than twice as many online purchases than in 2015. This will amount to approximately 2.17 billion US dollars, which equates to 26.7 % of total retail sales. In order to meet the challenges that online retail poses to intralogistics, Chinese companies are focusing on automation.
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What does this invention have to do with logistics?
Technology that can move a car autonomously can also do the same for delivery vehicles. And that is exactly why this invention is important for logistics. The technology is already highly developed and the industry is working feverishly on improving the efficiency for partially autonomous series-production (!) vehicles.
The traditional boundaries between physical and digital retail are blurring. Worldwide, customers are increasingly making use of the ability to buy from anywhere, at any time. And they expect rapid, reliable delivery – to their home, or to a designated pick-up point. There must also be an effective way of managing returns. Altogether, these needs and expectations can only be met with powerful, state-of-the-art intralogistics.
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What will the future look like?
AI systems that have been trained to perform corresponding intralogistics tasks can help human workers in warehouses. AI systems will make recommendations and improve process efficiency by using smart forecasts.
Warehouse automation has many advantages: it increases the efficiency and speed of order processing, helps to reduce costs and reduces the number of human errors. However, there are still doubts about the necessity of warehouse automation.
SSI SCHÄFER's expert shares his opinion on some popular misconceptions about automation and explains why they don’t reflect how things actually are.
New and increasingly demanding market requirements mean that companies are facing increasing pressure to improve their performance. This pressure also causes extra challenges for intralogistics, such as constantly growing quantities of goods that need to be handled during warehouse operations or additional tasks that need to be carried out in the warehouse, as well as short delivery times.
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An activity is carried out efficiently and effectively when it comes easy and follows clear processes. In order to meet these requirements, as part of the ergonomics@work!® program, we implement special picking stations designed to motivate employees, promote peak performance and significantly improve ergonomics at the work station. Movements such as lifting and carrying are assisted with ergonomic pulling and pushing.
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In the following interview, Elie Zita provides an overview of how digitalization has revolutionized customer service, guaranteeing maximized system availability and sustainability as a result of customized, predictive maintenance.
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Nowadays, timely service for customers with intralogistics solutions goes far beyond the provision of spare parts and the maintenance of systems. Every day, customers are confronted with new challenges in their business environment which need to be dealt with as quickly as possible; this is made all the more essential due to e-commerce and the rapid shortening of delivery times.
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The name "Leonardo" is most commonly associated with the multi-talented Leonardo da Vinci, who 600 years ago used his wide range of skills to develop pioneering inventions and make groundbreaking discoveries[i].
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Everything has a limited lifespan, including intralogistics systems. While steel and iron are less susceptible to the ravages of time, control and IT systems are rather more exposed to the effects of advancing years. Even processes themselves grow long in the tooth and require an overhaul to bring them back to cutting-edge relevance. We call this "retrofitting" – in other words, turning old into new.
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The SAP logistics suite already goes back a long way. Logistics processes were first covered in the R/2 ERP software up to the early 1990s, before being developed in the R/3 software when Warehouse Management (WM) and Transport Management (TRM) were introduced in their own modules as part of the ERP. This marked the launch of the first-ever embedded warehouse management and control system. WM is still maintained as an embedded module in the era of S4/HANA, although SAP will stop providing official support by the end of 2025. However, there is a delimited workaround available in the meantime with “Stock Room Management” that can be used beyond 2025.
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Computers can be used to quickly process and analyze large volumes of data in complex settings. Self-learning machines can recognize and remember patterns, and then react as we would when new situations with similar patterns arise, provided that we have defined the ideal result.
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Artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0, big data – just some of the buzzwords we hear every day in relation to intelligent, digitally networked systems. As well as the availability of the overall installations, the issue of security is becoming ever more prominent when it comes to the IT components. Protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the data stored on the IT systems is of particular importance.
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With conventional storage systems, only a single – albeit important – aspect of the system is shown: the purely technical situation. Traditional visualization systems are not capable of meeting the current and future requirements of an intralogistics system and are therefore no longer adequate sources of information upon which to operate an installation. Other important aspects, such as the material flow or the comparison of key performance indicators (KPIs), are not usually considered in sufficient detail.
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Demand for cold storage facilities has never been higher.
In the US, the spike in online grocery is spurring growth for cold stores. Real estate services and investment firm CBRE Group Inc. expects that up to 100 million sq. ft. of cold storage warehouse space will be added in the US by 2023. Here in Asia, the rise in consumer demand for perishable food items and the need to maintain the quality and shelf life of food, cosmetics are driving industry growth.
Warehouse management systems find routes that will minimize the distance covered between storage and picking points. Parameters can be adjusted to apply various strategies that will boost efficiency levels while still ensuring that goods are handled correctly.
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The starting point: A sudden increase of orders and a broken pallet led to major delays in the warehouse. In the example of Ines and Max, there are a number of ways in which the system can take action.
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The wide range of modular, scalable automation solutions by SSI SCHAEFER covers the steadily growing requirements for goods handling in the healthcare and cosmetics industries. Modern piece picking robots with integrated scan functionality ensure efficient picking as well as precise identification and verification of products to conform with regulations for tracking and tracing.
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Ines and Max are sitting in the warehouse control center monitoring the operating states of the material flow systems on the screens that surround them. The visualization does not show any incidents, everything appears to be running smoothly. In fact, it looks like today is going to be a pretty boring day...
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India is the world’s fifth-largest economy, with a population of 1.35 billion, the country has demonstrated itself as one of the quickest growing IT hub in South Asia. However, India has also long branded itself with its lower wage structure and access to a vast labour market; and on the other side, it has a pool of young technology enthusiasts and innovators. According to the Global Innovation Index, India’s ranking went from 81st in 2015 to 52nd in 2019. Notably, Indian start-ups and companies are continuously making significant steps to further improve technological innovation.
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To stay competitive in a pandemic climate, many food and beverage businesses might have considered, researched and even strategized co-opting automation solutions to their operations. For many of them, the term automation still implies machines or robots taking over manufacturing plants. While there is a space and need for such solutions, automation can also further enhance efficiency side-by-side with human labour. Further, manufacturers could also incorporate software solutions that help ensure product quality and safety that Labour would struggle to keep up with.
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To manage such seasonal shifts in demand, combined with the expectation for e-commerce to continue growing upwards within the region and beyond, we’re looking at establishing an integrative, collaborative effort between the labour force and automation.
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