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Technology in the Modern Warehouse and How to Make the Most of It

Liam Smith1587 08-Jul-2019

By the time a technological advancement reaches our home and starts influencing our daily life, it had probably already made significant changes to the manufacturing sector of the economy. Another industry that is inherently tied to production and factories is storage, i.e. warehouses. The question arises: has modern technology impacted the warehouses of today and what benefits are businessmen getting from implementing various high-tech improvements in their daily operations. In order to make the most of modern technology inside the warehouse, you first need to know which areas of business have the potential for improvement and how to put into practice these tech advancements.

Huge savings on energy

Technology in the Modern Warehouse and How to Make the Most of It

The 21st-century storage industry had inherited the concept of the warehouse as an oversized tin cube that is as energy efficient as a rickety hut. Entrepreneurs are basically expected to lose money on utility bills and leave a huge carbon print. Luckily, modern technologies are working to reshape the look and the operations of a typical warehouse by implementing measure to save and even produce energy.

First of all, wall insulation has become the standard that enables the warehouse space to be heated and lit by solar energy. Yes, instead of being a thin piece of metal that warms up quickly, the roof became the location of mini solar plants that produce enough energy to run the warehouse. Nowadays, energy is produced rather than wasted inside the warehouse, to the delight of operators, managers, and floor workers who can now work in a cool environment during the summer months. 

Full automation

Technology in the Modern Warehouse and How to Make the Most of It

A mere century ago, factory and storage workers envisioned a novel storage system that would take the brunt of the heavy work off their shoulders. Well, technology turned their wishes into reality, as modern warehouses are slowly turning toward automation. Everything from storage units to the retrieval system gets connected to a central computer that runs the whole warehouse instead of a human manager. However, such fully automated warehouses come with a high building and maintenance cost, so few warehouses are automated right now. 

Those that are, benefit from extra storage space, as shelves rise all the way to the ceiling and overhead cranes on rails buzz all over the place picking up and dropping off thousands of crates and boxes. Although most of the work is automated, you still might need to optimize the work process, because it does not make much sense to use the whole process for a couple of boxes lying around. That is where equipment like reliable hand trucks comes handy. You see, because the whole process is automated, cranes and forklifts no longer need to be manually operated nor do they require a human to enter the necessary data for them to operate. In fact, operators have mostly moved to the office above where their main duty had become overseeing the robots. But as with all, the key is to find the right balance and achieve maximum efficiency, and not just let robots and machines do every single thing. 

Improved floor safety

Although the number of workers required on the warehouse floor decreased, their presence is still necessary to monitor the work robots do. Some tasks, mostly related to quality control, still need to be performed by human experts, so they inevitably come into contact (or collision) with heavy equipment. Automation and improved retrieval system come with more guardrails, sirens, and restricted areas that ensure no worker gets injured. It might not be obvious at first glance but modern technology had improved material handling safety significantly during the past couple of decades.

Speedy storage

Technology in the Modern Warehouse and How to Make the Most of It

Not many people associate speed with storage, as warehouses usually imply a sense of torpidness. However, a modern warehouse is never a dull place, as there is constant movement and buzz around it, as one item is placed on a shelf, while another one leaves it. A fully automated warehouse is full of life 24/7/365 as cranes equipped with forks extract pallets and transfer them to a conveyor belt. Few people could keep up with the speed of automation, so the human factor usually gets involved only if there is a hitch, unlike in the past when human errors were the hitches slowing down and halting the entire distribution process.

No more paperwork

Public administration is still steeped in paper worldwide but the storage industry upgraded a long time ago. Namely, since the 1990s paper as a format of keeping track of orders had been slowly replaced with more efficient methods that use sophisticated IT. For once, no warehouse can be imaged without the use of bar codes, QR codes, and bar code readers that have enabled for orders to be identified and shipped to their destination in a matter of seconds. Files and folders are no longer in danger of being lost as important data is stored on hard drives and in clouds, so there always exists a backup. Investing in modern technologies help you save money on copy paper sheets.

A full house

Technology in the Modern Warehouse and How to Make the Most of It

Every good managerial policy aims to run the warehouse at near full capacity because this is when the losses are the smallest. Due to the instability of the economy, this can be hard at times, so 80% of 70% capacity implies a huge loss of money.

This is where online technology steps into action with on-demand warehousing that helps you fill your racks to the brim and constantly keep them that way. Specialized online platforms and websites have become literal marketplaces where warehouse owners can advertise their vacancies to be filled with goods. Basically, you advertise any extra space you have at the moment and enterprises who need the space now contact you. Both sides profit from this trading of free space, you get maximum capacity at all times and brick-and-mortar retail businesses get an opportunity to store goods for more affordable prices.

The warehousing industry had gone through dramatic changes during the last three decades alone and it is still changing. The future of storage business is perhaps more exciting than the present due to the fast-moving pace of modern technology. In the years to come, we might witness drones supplanting delivery drivers and their vans, as these unmanned aerial vehicles can overtake bar code scanning operations inside the warehouse itself, further upgrading business practices.


Updated 08-Jul-2019
Liam Smith is a young and aspiring Australian blogger with a passion for everything related to home, design and lifestyle. He has a B.Sc. in Interior design and is an avid reader.

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