Technology to augment human labour in next generation of warehouses

The Indian e-commerce industry is booming and expected to surpass the United States to become the second largest e-commerce market in the world by 2034, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation. Further, the e-commerce market has the potential to grow more than fourfold to USD 150 billion by 2022 based on rising incomes and the surge in internet penetration across the country. With a massive surge in order volume and goods inventory on warehouse floors, intensive labour deployment is needed to receive, cross-dock, organize, pack and load goods to keep pace.

However, in the volatile and competitive environment that we live in, it has become increasingly difficult to find and retain workforce in large numbers. It is evident that warehouse operators need a way to augment their workforce in order to preserve and improve productivity.

The pressing need points toward one solution: to pair workers with technologies that supplement and enhance their skill sets. Advanced technologies and products such as mobile computing, printing, barcode scanning, RFID solutions combined with augmented reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT) and automation technologies can help improve individual and team productivity, while achieving workflow conformity. Zebra’s Warehousing Asia Pacific Vision Study has found that 81 percent of respondents find implementing new technology is important to stay competitive.

Role of Robotics, RFID, Locationing Technologies and more on the Warehouse Floor

According to Zebra’s Warehousing Asia Pacific Vision Study, the average time spent getting new employees up to full productivity is four and a half weeks. A significant part of the on-boarding process involves training and familiarizing new hires with mobile technologies they will need to use in the course of their work. Evolving from the legacy mobile tools and warehouse management system, there is a host of mobile tools and software – handheld touch computers, rugged tablets, even printers – that can automatically capture, analyze and display data in a far more intuitive way.

These new tools enable workers to see exactly what they need to pick or put away by incorporating images into the workflow. From packing and sorting items, empowering inventory control workers to capture accurate stock counts to alerting workers immediately if a customer cancels an order, workers can do this with a form factor and user experience that is both intuitive and productive.

Besides mobile technologies, there are new solutions to bring in a new era of warehousing operations.

AR will help workers pinpoint precise inventory locations during picking actions, which improves fulfillment speed and accuracy.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) promises to create a warehouse and supply chain that are far more visible and connected than we have today. Large scale deployment of sensors connected to the cloud will allow for execution systems that are sensing the materials, environment and workflow directly. The IIoT will allow for managers to be alerted when something is out of the ordinary and requires their attention, allowing them to manage by exception. Location will be the first and most common usage of the IIoT in supply chain applications.

Locationing technologies that use RFID tags to transmit asset-related data to and from mobile devices are critical to track and trace equipment, assets, people and inventory. Passive UHF technologies can provide constant visibility of a receiving dock, a shipping dock or other operational area. Workers will know the physical location of materials in real time by locating tags within a few feet, tracking the tag through a dock door, and by transmitting that data to a mobile device. This reduces search time and provides automated, error-proofing of inbound and outbound material moves.

With the thriving on-demand economy and global retailers boosting up their operations in India to cater to the increasing consumer demand, it is a clear indication that warehouse operators will be investing significantly in new technological solutions to enhance the productivity and efficiency of their workforces.

For more information, visit Warehouse solutions.

Aik Jin, Tan
APAC Vertical Solutions Lead, Manufacturing and Transportation & Logistics, Zebra Technologies