All posts by : gunjan

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 – 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆

Having talked about supply chain challenges, logistics marketplace, and advances in tracking and visibility and also advanced warehouse automations now let’s see one more driver, driving into change in warehousing domains.

𝑩𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈

Big data and machine learning aren’t new concepts, but they’re poised to transform warehouse operations over the next few years. Artificial intelligence, for example, can be applied to a number of activities in the warehouse.

One of the main challenges facing warehouse planners when it comes to big data and machine learning is to identify key business drivers (or KPIs) and then determine how to best apply AI to improve them.

Order accuracy, fulfillment time and inventory accuracy are all KPIs that can be optimized through the use of AI, while some may apply AI to more general drivers such as safety, productivity or facility damage. By analyzing aggregated data from various information systems within the warehouse, AI can be used to automate tasks and decision-making.

Advanced analytics, such as predictive analytics, are leveraged to improve forecasting and drive smarter decision-making in the warehouse. Advanced analytics can be applied to activities such as:

~ Accuracy in demand forecasting
~ Inventory location planning
~ Faster response to supply chain issues
~ Manage complexity & demand
~ Optimization of picking, storage and more

Advanced analytics can also result in more user-friendly data — that is, data visualizations and other easily digestible formats, making it simpler to derive actionable insights from data.

So all this happening and much more in the warehouses around us to enhance our buying and consuming behavior and experience and i thought i will make you travel through this world of warehouses and since last 3 weeks my intent was to let you know what all it takes and how rapidly is it changing when something we consume leaves the doors of the manufacturer and reaches us.

So next time a delivery is delayed give it a basic consideration that it could be one in a million case for a particular warehouse still working with humans and be happy thinking that robots & drones are going to take over soon thus eliminating or minimizing this incident. Till then bear with today’s troubles for a better tomorrow.

Reach out to Synergeze Consultants Private Limited – the name you must remember if you have anything to do with warehousing operations support or consulting or execution to enhance efficiency.

#gccoach #warehousing #efficiency_improvement #synergeze

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 – 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆

Having talked about supply chain challenges, logistics marketplace, and advances in tracking and visibility now let’s see some more drivers, driving into change in warehousing domains.

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
We have discussed this in details during last weeks. However, when it comes to enhancing the efficiency of warehouse operations, the smartest approach that a company can take is to invest in automation. Although automation has been around for decades (maybe centuries!) in one form or another, innovative businesses are focused on incorporating autonomous elements into their existing infrastructure and systems to transform the fulfillment process without a total infrastructure overhaul or while making a new warehouse they are adopting to the call of investment one time vs recurring conventional issues.

The best way to go for the investment is on robots which have the capability to reduce the direct human resource currently required for activities like pick and place and pack. Even automatic packing lines, unloading conveyors, loading chutes, AGV (automated guided vehicles) for movement of cargo are some more areas wherein the automation is slowly entering the warehouses in big way.

Drones are the next thing to happen. One thing holding drones usage right now is regulations around safety due to usage of drones. They have not yet become the common thing. In some countries current regulations dictate that only a specialized class of lightweight aerial drones can be used in warehouses, but these drones may lack the capabilities needed to accurately read RFID tags from a distance.

So slowly but steadily the automation is driving change in the arena and is set to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the warehouses.

Till such time these automations reach an affordable range for all of us to implement and even now if you wish to improve the #warehouse_efficiency through automation or through process re-engineering do reach out to Synergeze Consultants Private Limited as we are your end to end warehouse management consulting partners and would love to engage with you in your journey to enhance efficiency and deliver customer delight.

#gccoach #efficiency #warehousing #consulting

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 – 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆

Having looked at Supply chain challenges and logistics marketplace driving changes in the warehousing domain, now let’s look at the next driver of change now.

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚
Who is not aware of the way IOT is entering our lives day by day. By the sheer capability of communicating and collaborating well between things miles apart without human intervention, its adaptability is growing at a pace unprecedented.

The benefits that are perceived with IOT in warehousing domain are
~ The ability to readily identify risks in the supply chain
~ Provides real-time data on weather and other conditions causing shipment delays
~ Helps companies meet chain-of-custody regulations for sensitive cargo
~ Reduces damaged and lost goods, as well as equipment damage
~ Precise location data reduces the time it takes to locate specific inventory
~ Improves inventory management and forecasting accuracy

Now remember the KPI we talked about last week. Isn’t it great that now the performance management and monitoring is getting automated and hence no hiding of errors, no under the carpet mistakes and no false commitments on delivery timelines.

With these sort of technologies taking over the tasks from us humans, it is no wonder that soon we will be able to see warehouses having an end to end supply chain visibility and thus planning and communicating the timelines of delivery, procurement, customer queries and everything else just by their own.

Imagine an amazon order visible to you over the map moving right from manufacturer to your doorstep from the time you ordered and till it is delivered.

We shall look at some more drivers next week as tomorrow and day after are days to relook at our perspectives and revolve them around some words related to life and business.

Till then do remember the name of the game in warehouse consulting is Synergeze Consultants Private Limited – your end to end execution based consulting partner in supply chain.

#gccoach #warehouse_automation #IOT #mobility

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 – 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆

Let’s look at the next driver of change now.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆

The complete and integrated supply chain, and warehouses being a critical and integral part thereon, are all moving to an integrated approach aimed at transparency and visibility.

For the warehouse, its imperative that logistics partners and consumers and integrated one at the back end and second at the front end.

There are certainly some trends in the logistics marketplace that are influencing the warehouse and driving towards what they will be in future.

Remember in the KPI posts we read about the capacity management and how important it is to be effective. Planning for the capacity is critical and interdependent on Product, peak demand, Process and Penetration forecast. You lose on one aspect and suddenly you are burdened with obsolescence.

Hence the warehouse planning’s now are taking advantage of automated capacity management by using technology for better, data-driven capacity planning. The result is fewer capacity planning errors which may cause loss of revenue and improved space utilization, which translates ultimately to profit.

On my post of future warehouses there was a detailed comment about On Demand Warehousing which is emerging from the need for greater warehouse flexibility to accommodate temporary demand for additional capacity.

Similarly in the same comment there was a mention of AaaS (automation as a service) where customers can deploy automation on an as needed basis. It’s gaining prominence because it provides facilities with the ability to rapidly scale up and down as demand dictates and allows buyers to expand or experiment with technologies such as robotics without going through a rigorous purchasing process.

The growth of open-source technologies and cloud-based services means applications are better able to share data than ever before. This connectivity supported by APIs are allowing applications to seamlessly collect data from different warehouse information systems.

Along with the connectivity made possible by APIs, the logistics marketplace will be able to take advantage of multi-modal optimization through seamless integration with vendors, logistics providers and other supply chain partners. Multi-modal optimization allows for sophisticated planning across regions, routes, modes of transport and more to easily achieve lead time and cost goals.

So we could see how every stakeholder is going through the phase of upskilling and transformation in order to keep abreast with the technological advancements that they are subjected to.

Will continue this discussion on drivers and till then do remember for all your warehousing needs and support we at Synergeze Consultants Private Limited are just a click away.

#gccoach #Synergeze_Consultants #Logistics #Warehousing

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 – 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆

In the previous weeks we have seen how the future of the warehouses look like, and how current warehouses are managing their KPIs to deliver customer delight. However history is witness that all changes were driven by something and nothing happened on its own.

So what is driving the change in warehousing domain?
Have this question ever crossed your mind while reading the previous posts?

In this weeks post let’s look at some of these drivers and what they mean and how are they impacting the change.

As we move forward with tech evolving with every tick of the clock, it’s safe to say that all workplaces are in the midst of change. Today, as companies face increasing pressure to do more with less, efficiency is the name of the game.

Similar is the case with the warehousing industry.

The warehouses of the future (may be after 25 years) might look like a scene out of a sci-fi movie, but it is also important to know how will it evolve from today’s scene to there.

It will be built on current process-driven technologies, like supply chain automation, robotic technologies and, dont forget plenty of drones covering the skies.

Some of the drivers of this change are
~ Supply chain challenges
~ The logistics marketplace
~ Advances in tracking and visibility
~ Advanced warehouse automation
~ Big data and machine learning
~ Autonomous vehicles

Lets look at the first driver today and rest of the drivers in the posts to come.

𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 – With retail footprint shrinking by the day & consumers preferring to opt for online buying behavior, it have actually made warehouses to take on more responsibilities and enhance their already critical role in the value chain.

If it is only about more role to play, then of course we need more human resources to act. But across the globe with rises in education levels the labor markets have shrunk making it difficult to man the warehouses.

To add to this is the peak seasonal demands of upto 5 times (remember amazon & others launching new year sale & registering record sales).

It further gets complicated when peak is coupled with tired manpower and thus manual errors (correcting which though is manageable but the impact on brand is severe).

Even retailers are forced to address this change in buying behavior to sustain and grow, they’ll look to warehousing and distribution partners with the capabilities to meet those needs.

And that’s what’s driving the trends and technologies that are shaping the warehouse of the future.

So could you now realize that how a domain gets stressed by something which is changing somewhere else. Who knew internet would cause so much of disruption. Till then for all your end to end warehousing needs do reach out to Synergeze Consultants Private Limited

#gccoach #supplychain #retail_warehousing

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔 (concluding post of the series)

Having seen some 15 metrics already let’s look at some more and by no means they are less important as coming in the end. They may not be directly related to warehouse but of your business and its strategy, but remember they can have adverse impact on your overall business and warehouse cannot remain untouched from it. Hence i am including them here

16. 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 – The rate of return gives you a chance to determine why customers return things. Knowing why lets you solve the problem of too many returns quickly.

17. 𝑫𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 – How quickly do you receive payments from customers? Fewer days outstanding means your accounts receivable department is efficient and collects money quickly. Though this may not be directly related to warehouse operations however it does have an impact on many facets indirectly. So this metrics of business also impacts warehouse as well.

18. 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑷𝒆𝒓 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕 – The freight cost per unit talks about transportation costs. Try bundling orders together to lower your shipping costs.

19. 𝑶𝒏 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 – Your on time shipping rate leads to happy customers who are more likely to order more items from you in the future. When this number is high, you have a great relationship with a transportation firm.

20. 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝑪𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 – The cash to cash cycle time measures days between paying for something coming into your warehouse before it gets shipped out. When this time is lower, your materials spend less time in the warehouse.

Now for sure many of these metrics needs resources to be managed, but in today’s time WMS have been instrumental in providing all these data in a click. However still to look at the data and derive meaning out of it and then to take actions we need experts in warehouses and there is seriously a shortage of such experts in the warehousing domain in the market.

If you wish to manage efficiency at your warehouses still without bringing onboard a scarcely available expert, then your search ends at Synergeze Consultants Private Limited as we are your #execution based partners in the domain of #supply_chain and #warehousing.

Hope this series helped you to understand some KPI’s and as a user to appreciate the hard work and measurements that goes behind everytime you place an order or buy something from a store.

Do let me know in comments if this added any value to your understanding of the logistics behind fulfillment of your needs.

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔

Continuing from yesterday’s metrics let’s look at some more of them today which can turn our warehouse operations into state of the art thus giving desired deliverables for our businesses.

7. 𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑷𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑰𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 – The cost per line item shipped examines the microeconomics of logistics operation. This metric measures how much it costs to handle and ship one item out of the warehouse. It’s a good bit of data to have on hand because shipping one item means people, computer systems and how your warehouse moves products. Any increases in metric need a closer look so you can keep costs and prices down.

8. 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 – How long do you need to intake inventory? This metric measures the speed and efficiency with which your staff unloads something and gets product to its place in the warehouse. This ties into your truck time in the dock and days on hand.

9. 𝑫𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅 – Days on hand is part of inventory turnover because it measures how much your storage costs build up over time. When products sit there for several days, it costs you money.

10. 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 – Perfect order management indicates which links in the chain are broken, whether it’s procurement, production, transportation, labor or any stage of the warehouse process.

11. 𝑭𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 – The fill rate shows what percentage of orders you fill on the first shipment. This metric combines customer satisfaction and transportation efficiency.

12. 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 – This metric measures what would possibly happen if you had no inventory on hand whatsoever. Then you determine how long it takes you to fill an order. When this time is shorter, you have better supply chain management.

13. 𝑪𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 – Your customer order cycle time examines how quickly a customer gets an order. The faster, the better, in this instance. If this changes, figure it out quickly.

14. 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 – Demand forecast is hard to predict, but analytics software helps. When you have accurate demand forecasts, you prevent bumps in the road with regards to pricing, capacity and whether to expand your operations.

15. 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 – In the big picture, your entire warehouse makes money based on this KPI. The carrying cost of inventory measures how much it costs to store inventory over a period of time. This factors in energy costs, labor, down time, shipping, freight and insurance.

Continued tomorrow as well. Till then for all your warehousing issues and supports for them do connect with Synergeze Consultants Private Limited as we are the doctors of warehouses and will enable you to get rid of any issue and improve all metrices.

#gccoach #warehouse_management #warehouse_KPIs

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔

Its always said that “What you can’t measure – You can never improve it”. Same goes true with #warehouse_management as well.

This week in next couple of posts let’s look at some of the key performance indicators for warehouse management and how they impact the bottom line of the organisation.

Warehouse KPIs determine how efficiently we turn a profit. We probably already have a software package that compiles data & analyzes information. What we do with that information may determine the success or failure of our business.

1. 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 – This measures how many times per year the warehouse goes through its entire stock. A high turnover rate means you’re doing something great. Products flow in & out readily and without any hitches. A warehouse management system lets you figure out weak points in your inventory before things start to sit there for a long time.

2. 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 – Back order rate shows how hard it is for you to fill orders. When demand spikes, you may see temporary back orders. If back orders become a long-term problem, you have to figure out why – before you have unsatisfied customers.

3. 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 – Inventory accuracy is extremely important if you want to fill orders properly. If your accuracy isn’t high, you might lose a lot of customers because you don’t have anything in stock when your computer says you do have something there. Items connected wirelessly update your computers instantly to keep your inventory accurate. Large operations need technology to produce accurate numbers.

4. 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐 – Your inventory to sales ratio changes depending on the economy and how your company gets through disruptions. Predictive analytics software lets your managers figure out a way to get through cash flow problems in the future. An inventory to sales ratio can prevent back orders as well.

5. 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 – Inaccurate orders leads to more returns, dissatisfied customers and less sales because clients go elsewhere. In today’s high-tech world of online ordering, a world-class accuracy order rate is 99.9 percent.

6. 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒐𝒄𝒌 – Also called as turn around time. Everything within your warehouse needs to leave your unit to be profitable. If a truck spends too much time at the, dock it identifies possible staffing problems, low inventories, infrastructure or some kind of handling difficulty. Trucks should spend the least amount of time at the dock as possible so another truck can come in and load or unload.

We shall continue discussing these #warehouse_KPIs and till then for all your warehouse operational efficiency related issues do reach out to Synergeze Consultants Private Limited and we shall be glad to assist you. Till then follow #gccoach