Warehouse Orchestration
In logistics technology discussions, warehouse orchestration and warehouse automation are often used interchangeably, but they define distinctly separate processes.
What is Warehouse Automation?
Warehouse automation is the practice of applying software, material handling equipment, warehouse robots, and other technologies to automate and perform labor-intensive manual tasks managed by workers. Examples of warehouse automation applications include:
- Automated conveyor systems
- Voice technology and barcode scanning
- Warehouse robots
- Print-fold-insert systems
- Print-and-apply labeling
- Scan-weigh-dimension systems
Each of these warehouse automation technologies delivers efficiency related to a specific task, which can hit a performance and throughput ceiling if they are challenging to integrate and become islands of automation.
Blog: The Basics of Warehouse Automation
The way to drive maximum performance from all aspects of your automation system(s) is to integrate and synchronize their operation via a warehouse orchestration platform.
What is Warehouse Orchestration?
A warehouse orchestration platform is a software layer within a warehouse execution system (WES) designed to automate an entire workflow or process rather than a specific work task. It is a command center that manages the complex process of synchronizing, managing, and monitoring the activities of all deployed technologies and workers.
Blog: How a Warehouse Execution System Enriches Your ERP and WMS Systems
Advanced warehouse orchestration software such as Numina Group’s RDS™ Warehouse Orchestration Platform includes algorithmic logic that analyzes data to create an optimal fulfillment workflow, taking order volume, throughput requirements, and the processing capabilities of various warehouse technology components and workers’ activities into account.
The RDS Warehouse Orchestration Platform manages and optimizes order fulfillment flow across the operation, uniting processes, people, and material handling technologies into a single solution that provides up-to-the-minute operation performance and order throughput visibility. RDS releases and orchestrates order fulfillment through automated work paths based on pack rules, priorities, order profile, SKU velocity, unit of measure, business rules, packing class, zone, SKU, storage type, and more.
RDS Orchestration automation bridges the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and warehouse management system (WMS) software layer gap by optimizing order flow, supervising, and executing material handling equipment and warehouse automation technologies.
The RDS Orchestration Platform includes:
- Advanced order release
- Configurable rules engine
- Algorithmic cartonization
- Parallel pick planning
- Voice-directed workforce optimization
- Directed robotic batch order picking using AMRS
- Automated put walls
- All-in-one touchless packing and shipping
In this way, RDS Orchestration monitors and manages all aspects of the warehouse automation system in synchronization, preventing islands of automation and eliminating bottlenecks and gaps in the fulfillment workflow.
Getting Started
The goal of devising an end-to-end warehouse execution system efficiently managed with warehouse orchestration is well worth the investment and will yield the highest returns for your operation. However, it is a complex undertaking that requires a specific skill set to ensure top results.
The Numina Group is uniquely qualified to help companies design and implement a turnkey warehouse orchestration solution tailored to their needs. We bring over four decades of experience in warehouse automation design, warehouse software, material handling equipment, systems integration, and implementation services for mid-to-large-sized enterprises to every project. Our team has designed and successfully implemented over 1,000 warehouse automation projects in diverse warehouse environments throughout North America.
Learn More
Video Case Study: Merit Medical Increases Order Fulfillment Productivity by 200%
Blog: Order Picking Automation Technologies to Resolve Warehouse Labor Shortage Challenges
