Posted to News on 21st Feb 2015, 12:55
Save time by eliminating manual scanning from your warehouse
Charlie Brackley of Harland Simon (Vero Solutions) describes how organisations can improve efficiency by eliminating the need for manual scanning of pallets and locations in warehouses.
In today's competitive market, much of industry is trying to find a competitive edge, and warehouse operators are no different. Although from the outside a warehouse operation may seem simple, there are in fact many important processes that must be followed correctly to ensure strong performance. For example, accurate inventory data collection and efficient slotting to minimise the travel time and distance.
One process that is often overlooked for cost savings is that of manual scanning - the collection of inventory data. Scanning is an essential practise within a warehouse environment to ensure inventory and assets are correctly stored and accounted for. However, there are a variety of drawbacks to manual scanning, including accuracy limitations and, perhaps more importantly on a day-to-day basis, the time it takes to manually scan barcodes when operating material-handling equipment (MHE), such as forklift trucks.
In manual scanning, an operator must manoeuvre MHE into a position that allows the scanning of a barcode, which can often take 10-15 seconds. Although this may seem a small amount of time, it soon adds up to a costly figure. There is, however, automated data collection and identification (AIDC) options that enable the removal of the manual scanning process. If this is done effectively it is estimated to reduce the time required to move each pallet by up to 15 seconds, the equivalent of saving eight hours for every 2000 pallet moves.
With AIDC, advanced warehouse pallet tracking and truck monitoring technology is used to save considerable amounts of time for MHE drivers. VeroCapture, part of the Vero suite of solutions, enables warehouse operators to track the movement of pallets and inventory automatically without having to scan barcodes, therefore delivering inventory and pallet AIDC and minimising the manual process of data collection. By implementing this advanced technology, warehouse operators have not only eliminated the potential for errors, but also ensured the movement and storage of products and pallets, and the number and operation of MHE, is cost-optimised.
Follow the link to find out more about eliminating manual scanning from your warehouse by implementing systems from Vero Solutions.
