With the first quarter of 2021 passing before us, we have been continuously adapting and adjusting to the technology trends induced by the pandemic. The pandemic has caused businesses to operate differently as consumer behaviorism has taken a drastic change as well. That said, warehouses have to pick up the pace and game by following effective technology trends.
For effective warehouse management, you might be looking for the best electric pallet truck in Melbourne. Besides the best in-house equipment, we also recommend investing in the following tech trends to keep up with consumer demand and your contemporary marketplace.
WMS (Warehouse Management System)
We cannot stress enough the significance of having a WMS, which will digitize your in-house operations and effectively manage all moving parts that are part of your warehouse. Typically, the best WMS includes inventory management, shipping, labor management, employee management, packing, and shipping management. That said, the integration of a warehouse management system will boost warehouse productivity and lower your expenses while boosting sales and revenue. If you want to stand out from your competitors in the markets, you need to integrate a warehouse management system.
Renewable Energy Sources
2021 is the year where people are increasingly paying more attention to going green by exploring and integrating solar and other options of renewable energy sources. The integration of renewable integration sources serves a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it is mild in the environment. Secondly, it reduces costs in the face of the typical high-energy use that is part of all warehouses.
Sustainability is amongst the top trends for 2021 that everyone needs to look out for. As a warehouse owner, you can use the massive space on the roof to put up solar panels as an efficient renewable energy source. The best part about the integration of renewable energy sources is that it will curb your energy operation costs while increasing the warehouse’s operating income.
Voice-Activated Technology
The latest trend is to go as touchless as possible, which is why it has given rise to the integration of voice-activated technology, including warehouse workflow procedures. That said, voice-activated technology is taking over the outdated scanning processes. Nonetheless, it depends on the nature of the workflow process whether you can completely replace the scanning with voice-activated technology or not.
It has been speculated that more companies and warehouses will integrate a multi-modal approach that will incorporate voice-activated technology and automated barcode scanning for data collection. This approach will enable a warehouse employee to feed an item information to the warehouse management system through a headset.
In case the serial number of the warehouse item is too long, the employee can also use a hand-held device to feed the info in the WMS. The essential benefits of voice-activated technology include that it boosts the employees’ productivity while they can efficiently focus on their work while keeping their hands free. Also, a multi-modal technology integration enhances accuracy and subsequently boosts customer satisfaction. The voice-activated technology integrated with the ERP system of the warehouse.