Warehouse and transportation system management is part of the key strategy for enhancing efficiency and higher profit of medium- to large-scale industries.
The majority of the manufacturing industry takes up more than half of their factory space as a warehouse area for the purpose of storing goods and packing prior to delivery. Apart from storing raw materials and finished goods, the warehouse is used to store semi-finished goods, components or even work in progress. Inefficient management may cause damage to goods or raw materials kept in the warehouse, and worse than that, result in higher costs that reflect considerably in the business’ profit. Therefore, to ensure effective and flexible management and a competitive advantage, we need to seek a more effective product management to maximum time- and cost-savings, and study warehouse management systems and application of technology to enhance our warehouse’s effectiveness.
Basic technologies for warehouse management that are widely used to increase effectiveness are certainly GPS Barcode (Global Positioning System Barcode) Scanner; land transportation control system based on Mobile 3G technology to inspect, search and detect position of trucks for more effective transportation and cost saving; RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)used to inspect receipt and distribution of products from warehouses for more convenience and precision; Warehouse Management System (WMS); and Transportation Management System (TMS). These technologies provide efficiency for warehouse management and volume of flow-in and flow-out of products. The more efficient warehouse management is, the greater success the company sustains. However, some companies these days are still unable to improve their warehouse management, so we gather methods as guidelines for enhancing warehouse management effectiveness and further improvement.
Technology adaptation for real-time display
An important key to effective warehouse management is to organize space allocation systematically, use technology to record the goods in and out in real-time, and display the results immediately through the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) System along with the Warehouse Management System (WMS), which can be checked directly. This process is able to help the sales department and shipping department know how many products they actually have at that time. It can also examine whether the order has been shipped or not. Hence, the workload of additional production can be determined, and the allocation of resources can be appropriately organized. In addition, regular reporting of dead stock can allow staff to manage space more properly, while the speed of goods flowing in and out indicates a company’s performance as well. Since the customer’s needs are constantly changing, the quantity of goods should be properly accounted for by using an ERP System.
Get the most out of real-time technology
Since the analysis of real-time information helps build an effective warehouse, it is necessary to choose a WMS System along with an ERP System and a supply chain system to work together with the WMS System. These systems can help with real-time material management, and consequently boost performance and identify problems that should be improved in the WMS System. Additionally, another important point is to study the performance of employees. The WMS System can set employee codes and display their performance to compare with the predefined standards. Thus, the KPI can be analyzed in real time. Furthermore, warehouse allocation in a vertical arrangement is the most appropriate way to enhance space. Some manufacturers may design the warehouse area by decreasing walkway space. Moreover, they may use a forklift to work in narrow spaces, or use robotic technology to do the work instead, which can increase performance and enhance space up to 25-30%.
