Automated warehouses.
By: Dasza
JUL 16, 2020
In the previous article we talked about the advantages and realities of an automated warehouse, today we will talk more about automated warehouses and the systems they use.
What is an automated warehouse?
An automated warehouse has an optimized operation due to the installation of machinery and automated systems that assist in operations: receipt of merchandise, storage, preparation of orders and dispatch.
The role of the warehouse in the supply chain is to deliver the order to the customer in the most efficient way, for this reason, the main reason for an automated warehouse is to reduce manual tasks that slow the movement of merchandise.
Logistics software is a fundamental part of the warehouse activity. The machines work thanks to computerized control and execution systems, which combine their capacity with the unique functionalities of warehouse management systems.
Technologies for automated warehouses.
A set of technologies are essential for the automation process:
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Communications: is a communication system that allows the sending and receiving of electronic documents. Through standardized and automatic communications, warehouses can exchange commercial documents, providing a large amount of information to other actors in the logistics chain. For example, sales reports, stock reports, shipping notices, shipping instructions, etc.
Drones: drones allow to automate the inventory of warehouses and merchandise warehouses. They play an important role in product distribution and warehouse surveillance.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags: This technology is developed to manage the distribution of products in large quantities. It consists of a radio frequency device that communicates with a Tag that contains an integrated chip or processor and an antenna. The reader is usually portable and allows the information on the label to be read automatically, reducing the manual scanning of exception management.
Cloud storage: Storage and cloud computing offer several benefits, for example, instead of setting up and maintaining an on-site data center, cloud storage reduces the need for a physical department of new technologies.
With the help of these technologies and machinery, automatic storage systems allow the management and optimization of processes in warehouses, making them more efficient.
Automation is a very extensive topic, for this reason we will continue talking about the types of automation in warehouses the following week.