“To be or not to be” is a challenge faced by decision-makers when considering whether to allow AI into the manufacturing industry. Automating warehouses & distribution centers is essential to staying competitive in the modern era.
As of 2024:
- 70% of supply chain professionals view automation as a positive impact for warehousing as of 2024
- 77% of organizations are serious about automated warehouse systems and mapping a plan to maximize data-driven performance.
Discover the clear cut benefits of warehouse automation in this post.
1. Reduce Manual Labor and Mental Strain
Robots can take over dangerous and time-consuming work, helping warehouse workers stay safe while performing in coordination with the robots. Robots also help save the time and effort workers spend scanning, picking, packing, and counting inventory.
It can be very strenuous for a warehouse worker to keep moving one rack to another fetching customer orders. Automation completely eliminates travel distance for workers per order, thereby increasing efficiency and worker safety, allowing workers to focus on more important order fulfilling tasks..
2. Improve Warehouse Accuracy & Efficiency
Artificial Intelligence helps reduce human error and improves the customer experience which is the key to success for any business. Since robots are customizable and programmed for a specific purpose, there is little chance of them working incorrectly. Robots are less prone to errors and eliminate wasting time and effort in redoing an incorrect task.
Accuracy in tasks, like product scanning, picking, storing, and transporting the products, affects the overall performance of the warehouse in a positive manner. Warehouse robots work with precision and automate the most mundane and laborious tasks, hence, saving time as well.
3. Reduce Warehouse Costs
“As per U.S. Census Bureau data, an average warehouse worker spends almost seven weeks per year in unnecessary motion within the warehouse. The costs of such futile activity cost more than $ 4.3 billion to the industry in annual revenue.”
Also, robots perform dangerous tasks efficiently in the warehouse, resulting in reduced costs spent on worker’s compensation for safety issues. There are fewer chances of workers getting injured since robots are performing the tasks instead. The number of workers required in the warehouse also decreases as robots fulfill most tasks more accurately, creating less wastage as well in the warehouse.₁
4. Optimize Picking Efficiency
One of the foremost usages of a robotic arm was to move the materials from one place to the other twelve feet away. But with the advancement in technology, the robotic arm has now been developed into an autonomous mobile robot that can travel throughout the warehouse and pick items automatically.
Companies like Liftians have introduced their powerful mobile robotic picking solutions in the market. This adds up to the efficiency of the warehouse with limited human resources. These machines are programmed to travel the established routes and they typically carry carts in which the products can be stored and transported to the workers.
Conclusion
The above points have hopefully helped you grasp how robots are changing the ecosystem of supply chain management within warehouses. This is just scratching the surface; robots will prove to be much more useful and advanced as technology advances. It’s time to move on with this modern technological world.
