Scaling Omnichannel Fulfillment to Meet Demand
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Consumers have never had more choices. They can go to a physical store to shop, order products on their phones or laptops to ship directly, or buy online and pick up at a retail location near them. Ecommerce volumes reflect this multi-channel environment.
This is great news for retailers—more opportunities for people to purchase their wares—but it also presents challenges. Large online sales are only an asset if companies can keep up with that volume, maintain diverse stock across warehouses, and pick and pack products quickly.
Modern automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) provide the technological boost to scale omnichannel fulfillment, keep up with ecommerce growth, optimize security, and control inventory. The computer-controlled array of robots and robotic pick arms in ASRS uses computer vision and other forms of AI to rapidly retrieve inventory and prepare orders.
Traditional warehouses have a lot of unused space that stores nothing. There are many aisles that must be wide enough to allow forklifts, carts, and people to pass unobstructed. ASRS effectively adds density to warehouses. There’s no need for spaces between aisles, or aisles at all, because products are compacted into a single grid of bins, and a robotic fleet fetches them. The warehouse becomes a scalable, large cube subdivided into many smaller boxes.
By compacting storage, ASRS makes room for more products, or SKUs. This is particularly helpful in retail, as many companies offer thousands of items for omnichannel distribution. In addition, third-party logistics providers can store multiple product lines for different retailers or brands under one warehouse. Whether it’s t-shirts, watches, or electronics—if it can fit in a bin, ASRS can handle it.
Enter the WES
While online shopping is growing, fulfillment times are shrinking, as consumers demand fast delivery. Orchestrated by algorithms within the Warehouse Execution System (WES), modern ASRSs constantly investigate the most efficient ways to store items in the grid. This dynamic process accelerates picks and boosts overall warehouse efficiency.
With most online shopping happening at 9 p.m., the WES pre-sorts and stores orders overnight. This supports partial picks, giving customers the option to add merchandise at the last minute.
Once the orders are picked and ready to be shipped the next morning, the WES orchestrates the sequence in which the orders come out of the ASRS, based on the truck they will go to, or even in the order in which they will be placed in a truck.
Perhaps the most important part of ASRS is that the system knows inventory levels in real time, all the time. Even retailer warehouses and distribution centers carrying multiple brands or lines of products to multiple channels can quickly conduct an exhaustive inventory control at any time to avoid unexpected out-of-stocks.
Because with an ASRS the goods are highly secure inside of the grid and only retrieved by robots and picking arms, there is no room for human error. Warehouse managers know how much stock went into the grid—and how much stock came out. This ultimately impacts customer satisfaction. Who enjoys an email from your favorite retailer saying the item you just purchased will be refunded because stock wasn’t available?
As ecommerce sales continue to grow, and omnichannel supply chains become the norm, smart fulfillment technology is the answer to keep pace.