The total average monthly value of online retail sales in the UK surged dramatically during the pandemic as consumers swapped the checkout line for online shopping. The boom in eCommerce is set to continue, and as a result many smaller businesses or new players in this space will be looking to expand or improve their warehouse operations.
Bigger businesses are already taking advantage of warehouse automation to improve cost efficiency, reduce their reliance on manual labour, and bolster the overall customer experience. Yet there are many misconceptions around warehouse automation that make it seem out of reach for smaller players. The truth is that it’s completely achievable. Here are five tips for SMEs looking to take advantage of warehouse automation by Gavin Harrison, UK Sales Manager, Element Logic.
Don’t let the term intimidate you
While the term ‘warehouse automation’ has a big-ticket ring, it’s not the exclusive domain of the big players. You don’t have to do everything at once if you choose the automation route. For instance, an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) such as AutoStore is a scalable technology that allows you to grow your use of automation in line with your company’s changing needs.
Ask yourself: “How is the business doing today, and how will it look two to five years from now?” No matter what your warehouse looks like today, your solution provider should always tailor automation to meet your needs and support your business growth trajectory.
Take advantage of automation as a service
Not all companies can afford or want to invest in automation before they’re sure it will be profitable. A cost-effective, short-term alternative is automation as a service (AaaS).
A modular and flexible solution, for example, AutoStore, can be leased, allowing young or smaller companies to access automation at a much earlier stage of their development to facilitate rapid, sustainable growth. Subscribing to an automated solution will also free up funds for your company to grow and innovate in other areas since the costs are spread evenly throughout the year.
Focus on ease-of-use
At first glance, automation may seem complex, but you don’t need to have a team of qualified engineers to take advantage of the solutions on offer. A good warehouse solution should be quick to install, be intuitive and easy to use, and cause minimal disruption to your current operations. With appropriate training, employees can master their new workflow within hours.
Determining the right level and type of automation for your operations can be challenging. If in doubt, remember that your solution should remove complexity, not add it.
Get your data right from the word go
Customer order data denoting the Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) sold is valuable from a transactional perspective. However, many small businesses or new start-ups fail to recognise the importance of dimensional data and warehouse layout drawings.
Obtaining this data for all your products once the business has grown to a specific size is a near-impossible task, so it’s better to document this data from day one and grow with it. Designing a firm, on-point warehouse automation solution based on precise data is much easier and more effective than basing it on assumptions.
Invest with sustainability in mind
Make sure the warehouse automation solution you invest in is energy efficient. AutoStore order picking robots, for example, run on rechargeable batteries and generate much of their own energy, making the power circular and sustainable.
Unlike humans, robots do not depend on environmental settings to perform their functions. Besides maximising the use of space, they can work in the dark in a wide temperature range – thereby reducing the use of electricity and, by implication, lowering emissions. Space efficiency is another sustainability aspect that needs consideration. A warehouse automation solution like AutoStore offers four times the storage capacity in the same footprint as manual storage.
Upfront cost is always a consideration, but when you calculate the long-term ROI of warehouse automation solutions, you’ll quickly realise why they are superior to manual systems.
