What’s new in warehousing……..
“Voice Directed Picking (VDP)” * It is a system in which a picker uses a headphone and microphone attached to his belt. * This type of system involves conversion of voice into data and vice versa. * Firstly the main system sends the data which is converted into voice signals which is received by the picker regarding what to do , where to go and what amount to pick . * After this picker again send voice signals which are converted into data and verified by system which ensures there are no errors.
“Pick to Light (PTL) “
* It is a display device which is helpful in picking.” * If an order is to be picked the main computer sends data to the PTL computer which displays how much to pick and it displays light for each item that is to be picked. * The picker then press all the buttons illuminating lights. If the order is correct a green light is displayed otherwise a red one which shows there is an error. * As buttons are pressed there is an exchange of information between data server and the main system.”
Amazon’s robotic shelves
* Amazon’s new warehouses are the perfect example of man and machine working together. * In the warehouses when earlier manual labour used to walk around the warehouse and move the shelves from one place to another but now these shelves moves automatically . * This is a big leap in warehousing technology which has increased the productivity and reduced the cost. * Earlier first shelves used to be identified according to the stock and then moved but now they move automatically according to the requirement controlled by advanced robotic technology.
Amazon’s speedy and automated assembly lines
* After packing of the product done by the manual workers these boxes are left on the assembly lines . * The sensors and lasers identify these boxes and classify them according to customers. * These boxes are then send to the particular transportation unit identified by the computer system according to the customer. * Due to this technology speed of this process and efficiency has improved drastically.
Dock scheduling software * Dock scheduling software helps in efficient coordinating between every inbound delivery for all departments coming into warehouse. * It processes data from past shipments and figures out how much time a delivery should take. * It helps to process more inbound shipments by projecting exact delivery times. * It made scheduling hastle free process and also have reduced labour needs. * It is very user friendly like windows .
Automatic data capture * It includes bar codes and laser sensors. * Mostly used in food service industry and consumer goods distribution. * It helps in improving efficiency and reduce labour costs. * Mostly used in large warehouses which involve products with batch size of 100 or more. Example – cds * It also helps in checking the efficient picking by pickers. * When products are scanned by labours then they are classified automatically and move speedily on assembly lines getting their tagging done correctly.
Refrences www.genbuscon.com techreviw.com news.thomasnet.com 