An approach to relieving warehouse pain points

Despite much progress made in the development and integration of systems and automation in warehouses, manufacturers, retailers, and distribution centers are still confronted with many formidable challenges in improving the efficiencies in operating a variety of warehouses. Inefficient cycle counting, inaccuracy, and costly labor expense are typical pain points for a warehouse, which frequently are caused by inefficient flow of information. This article presents an innovative approach to relieving these pain points by taking advantage of radio frequency identification technology. Global identification codes are used to identify individual items, packaging boxes or cases, and storing pallets. As the data on items and their locations are collected in a timely manner, the pertinent data, information, and knowledge on jobs at hand can be promptly provided (e.g., to operators, machines, and devices), resulting in that a warehouse can be operated in a much more cost-effective and efficient manner.