What does it take to build an intelligent and efficient warehouse?
How can food and beverage (F&B) manufacturers capitalise on technologies, tools and system to overcome the limitations of a warehouse that is labor, process intensive?
Food News International finds out more from João Oliveira e Sousa, MD of Efacec Singapore, the marketing and servicing center of material handling systems for Efacec in Asia Pacific.
FNI: How are warehouses of the past two decades different from those today?
Sousa: In the past, warehouses were typically managed manually.
Companies then relied heavily on manual labor and almost every warehousing procedure was done by hand.
Stock count had to be physically monitored by employees, paperwork was a common occurrence, and business was often constrained by employees’ working hours.
It was also a challenge to track employees’ work activities and difficult to assess an individual’s performance.
In comparison to an automated warehouse, manual warehouses are slow and inefficient.
Apart from an improvement in efficiency, today’s warehouses are also safer.
Before, companies were able to get away with dangerous warehousing practices, but as the authorities imposed more health and workplace safety regulations, companies have had to incorporate workplace safety features to create a safe work environment for employees.
Dangerous warehousing practices had to be abolished, so the warehouses of today have well-designed structures, and safety procedures are properly communicated to all employees.
In fact, with better-defined warehousing regulations, safety procedures have even gone on to include strict instructions on handling for different types of food inventory.
Previously, warehouses were made to fit all purposes, with little concern for proper food storage and handling.
With advancements in technology and increased knowledge in food storage, warehouses specially designed for food storage and handling is now easily available on the market.
These days, you can find warehouses designed for different storage environment including cold rooms for cold chain food manufacturers and warehouses with controlled humidity levels specially catered to perishables.
FNI: What are the solutions and technologies available to F&B manufacturers for efficient warehouse management today?
Sousa: With the plethora of warehouse designs available nowadays, it can be overwhelming for food manufacturers to select a warehouse structure that best supports its operations.
It is therefore important to understand the intended function of the warehouse before making any decisions.
Is the warehouse a new investment, or is it meant to improve existing warehouse procedures? Also, is the warehouse meant for storing raw food ingredients, or is it storage for finished food products?
Warehouse optimization will only come about when companies understand what the facility is used for.
Warehouse management system (WMS) is one of the many solutions available in the market for efficient warehouse management.
In short, the WMS is a smart software application that supports day-to-day warehouse operations, and enables companies to achieve warehouse performance improvements – including stock accuracy, labor performance and traceability (such as delivery and shipping information).
WMS can add value to a company’s overall warehouse management and ultimately result in customer satisfaction.
Additionally, voice-directed warehousing, order-picking and sorting technologies are also innovative solutions that food manufacturers can implement to maximize warehouse performance.
Depending on the size of a business, some food manufacturers may choose to incorporate various picking and sorting technologies.
Others may instead opt to implement a single warehouse solution, especially if the business is just transitioning from a manually operated warehouse.
Food manufacturers will also do well to consider the optimal temperature for food storage.
Certain food ingredients or products may require specific temperatures, and some may spoil easily if this condition is not met.
Food contamination issues, humidity control, and pest control are also factors that manufacturers should cover.
FNI: How can these solutions help manufacturers create intelligent warehouses?
Sousa: The mark of an intelligent warehouse is one that “streamlines” data, and the exemplar can be found in an automated warehouse.
As its name suggests, an automated warehouse is one where all processes are computerized and carried out automatically.
This includes automated storage, handling, and distribution of warehouse inventory, which are typically controlled by a central WMS transmitting data across the warehouse.
When a warehouse is fitted with the WMS, warehousing procedures become simpler and human error is greatly reduced.
The WMS can also interface with existing systems (such as the enterprise resource planning [ERP] system) to provide manufacturers with complete warehouse support, right from accounting processes through to shipping activities.
The WMS is integral, especially in the current business climate where there is a constant exchange of orders going in and out of a warehouse.
The system can help food manufacturers track perishables, improve order and shipment accuracy, as well as support product traceability, including better responsiveness in times of product recall.
Order-picking on the other hand is a sub-segment within the warehousing process that can directly impact customer satisfaction.
There are different order-picking technologies available in the market, and although set-ups may vary, the desired result is to deliver the appropriate order to the customer in the most efficient manner.
A systematic order-picking process can also reveal inefficiencies in picking areas, allowing companies the opportunity to remedy these problems.
FNI: Can you share some anecdotes of how your clients in the food manufacturing industry have benefited from changes made to their warehouse management systems?
Sousa: Our clients enjoy several improvements with the implementation of Efacec’s warehouse management systems, and these benefits are consistent across industries.
To summarize, here are the benefits:
– Higher productivity;
– Reduced human errors that results in higher accuracy in orders;
-Absolute inventory control, including the ability to pinpoint inventory and product movement;
– Traceability, which reduces losses related to perishables through managing expiration dates, and also allows product recalls to be done effectively;
– Reduced reliance on manpower, as automated warehouses can operate throughout the day, and;
– An increase in throughput.
PT Indolakto, a large local producer of dairy goods in Indonesia, consulted us for its first automated warehouse in Surabaya.
Inspired by other leading dairy producers, PT Indolakto was keen to incorporate a fully automated facility for its production processes, which includes an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) warehouse for product storage.
An ASRS warehouse features a WMS automatically transmitting instructions for inventory storage or retrieval from defined locations.
Typically used when there are high storage volumes, ASRS has grown in popularity in recent years.
After the implementation, PT Indolakto reported significant improvement in their warehousing processes and particularly enjoyed the extended operational hours.
In the past, they were limited by employees’ working hours but the ASRS now allows storage procedures to be performed round the clock.
Additionally, the dairy producer improved on space utilization by optimally using the facility’s existing vertical space.
This eliminates the need to invest in more real estate to support future growth.
Another client, a beverage manufacturer, enjoyed increased throughput and also achieved cost savings with our help.
The client wanted to maximize its throughput right from the beginning.
Typically for the proposed amount of stacker cranes, the maximum stacking rate is 300 pallets in an hour.
However, to support the client’s requirement, we modified the equipment and maximized that number to 400 pallets an hour.
By customizing the handling of pallets in pairs to speed up the process, we helped the client achieve extra throughput with great success.
FNI: What would be the game changers for warehouses in the next three years?
Sousa: I believe that more innovative WMS will soon be developed and introduced into the market.
These WMS may present limited to zero troubleshooting issues, and may even be compatible with nearly every existing warehouse system.
This could be a major selling point because the greatest challenge in conversion is often in the adoption of new technology.
As technology advances and the use of WMS becomes more widespread, the initial investment costs of the system would likely reduce and be more affordable to small-medium enterprises (SME).
I am hopeful that this will become a reality one day and look forward to more SMEs implementing the WMS to enjoy increased work productivity.
Another technology that may increase in popularity is radio frequency identification (RFID) systems.
Such systems can automatically detect and identify items, and can also be customized to store data.
Incorporating RFID generally improves accuracy and visibility in a warehouse, and allows warehouse operators to keep track of inventory progress.
This will help reduce inventory loss and support product control.
Using such technologies will eliminate the need to manually scan barcodes before entering information into a transmitter, as information can be automatically uploaded into the WMS.
While barcodes are still the industry standard – probably due to familiarity, costs, and ease of use – the RFID system is one that is more powerful.
If more manufacturers switch to using RFID systems, warehousing processes could change dramatically.
FNI: How can F&B manufacturers prepare themselves for these changes?
Sousa: Food manufacturers will have to be open to the idea of adopting new technologies such as the WMS and RFID.
Companies keen on implementing aspects of warehouse technology should also conduct thorough research to understand the strengths of the various solutions to ultimately select the technology that best supports its warehousing needs.
On top of conducting their own research, companies should also make use of consulting services provided by warehousing solution providers like Efacec.
That way, a specialist’s input is sought before an informed decision is made.
At the end of the day, manufacturers must have a close understanding of their warehousing needs so that targeted measures can be taken.
