3 signs that you should consider implementing automated warehouse solutions

The pace of change in industry is quite relentless, leaving many businesses struggling to keep up. From talent shortages, through to increased competition, there are many challenges that every business faces when it comes to maintaining positive growth. Smart warehouse solutions that incorporate automation can make a big difference in operational terms, enabling more efficiency and helping to cut costs. But how do you know if your business really needs this kind of support?

1. Labour costs are high and staff shortages are common

The cost of employing warehouse staff to ensure operations run smoothly can be high. As well as ensuring there are sufficient staff to cope with daily demand there may be additional costs, overtime and recruiting requirements on a seasonal basis. The end result is often that budgets become very stretched at times when the warehouse is under the most pressure to perform.

If your warehouse is overwhelmed by the cost of the labour required to achieve daily goals – or constantly understaffed – it might be time to switch to an automated solution. Not only will this help to reduce the cost of the labour required but it will better support the workforce that remains so that your employees can add more value across the business.

2. Your space is chaotic and there is no room to expand

Optimising your warehouse space means making the best possible use of every tiny piece of square footage. The ability to organise products to account for fast and slow moving items, and to manage seasonal product peaks, is essential. Working with automated warehouse solutions makes it much easier to organise the space. Not only does it allow for high density storage but automated storage and retrieval systems provide the opportunity to reorganise based on optimal efficiency, even if that means making use of storage in hard to reach places.

A warehouse space that is better organised is one where it’s easier to find room to grow. For example, many warehouses fail to use vertical storage because this is unreachable to manual pickers – but not if your warehouse solutions are automated.

3. Goals are not being fulfilled

The most basic purpose of warehouse solutions is to ensure that orders are processed and dispatched as quickly as possible – while maintaining high levels of order accuracy. Both speed and accuracy can be difficult to ensure when you’re dealing with purely manual warehousing solutions. Response times may be slow and mistakes common, leading to dissatisfied customers and a negative impact on the business as a whole.

Switching to automated warehousing solutions means orders can be swiftly fulfilled, no matter how complicated they may be, with 100% accuracy. No matter what the order size, the number of orders or the size of the warehouse, using robotic and automated solutions provides the means to ensure speed and accuracy goals are met.

If it’s time for your business to look at automated warehousing solutions we can help. Contact us to find out more about your options.