Warehouse Automation Design
Warehouse automation design is a lean distribution best practice to help manufacturers and distribution centers create the most effective warehouse design, incorporating available space and equipment through smart warehouse control and execution.
The design project begins with an engineering study to evaluate a company’s existing warehouse operations and identify process improvements and potential technologies to streamline fulfillment workflow.
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It culminates in a modern design plan that combines process improvements with the right blend of warehouse software and material handling technologies to eliminate manual tasks, reduce labor requirements, increase throughput, and yield a rapid ROI.
Warehouse Engineering Study
The first step in the design process is to conduct a warehouse engineering study that includes lean analysis, design and time studies, and value stream mapping and other key factors for every operational process to eliminate non-value-added touches and other waste.
This approach makes it possible to identify redundancies, disconnects, gaps, and bottlenecks in the operation. The study should provide an in-depth lean analysis of current and proposed distribution processes, analyzing product slotting, profiling, and SKU velocities.
Warehouse Automation Design Plan
The information gathered in the engineering study forms the foundation of a modern warehouse design and layout plan that combines process improvements with the right blend of software and material handling technologies to yield a rapid ROI.
Software and Material Handling Technology Selection
The next step in the warehouse automation design process is to identify the best combination of software and warehouse automation equipment for the company’s specific operations. Typically, a warehouse automation solution comprises several material-handling equipment technologies that work together as an integrated warehouse automation solution. The integrated solution becomes a continuous order flow fulfillment machine.
All technology options should be evaluated at this stage to determine their capabilities and ROI. A best practice is to work with an independent systems integrator, such as the Numina Group, with more than 40 years of experience working with all the leading warehouse technologies.
Numina Group, as an independent system integrator and a leading supplier of warehouse execution and control software, takes an unbiased approach to technology and material handling equipment selection.
Numina implements solutions built with best-of-breed technologies and has partnership relationships with leading automated conveyor systems, automated storage and retrieval (ASRS), goods-to-person (G2P) systems, voice picking systems, pick-to-light and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) suppliers.
A Design Plan for Success
The risk of implementation failures or lower-than-expected ROI is a genuine concern for any company investing in a warehouse automation design plan and project. For this reason, working with industry experts with a proven track record of project design and implementation success is crucial.
A key advantage of partnering with the Numina Group is our knowledge and demonstrated success in delivering high-performance real-time controls, software, and integration of plant floor automation to WMS/ERP systems.
Our design plans include a written performance and acceptance test specification document that guarantees the warehouse automation design solution will meet or exceed the performance requirements.
Learn More
White Paper: Warehouse Automation Guide
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