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Smart fulfilment - the advantages of warehouse controls

Fulfilling online orders profitably has a significant impact on retail customer satisfaction – and the latest developments in warehouse technology provide significant efficiency gains and a good ROI.

Warehouse controls are a key element in an automated system as they integrate the different components in the system and streamline it with the following advantages.

Safety is improved

• Less people are involved in the operation, human error is minimized as is the likelihood of accidents.
• Designing a system in line with machine safety directives ensures the safety of operatives is central to the operation.

 Flexibility and onsite control

• The latest range of PLCs and Controls are more standardized, more commonly used and work well with new technology.
• Good Control philosophy means bespoke requirements can be added in so that different settings can be used as required giving a greater degree of onsite control.

 Increased productivity

• Controls mean the operation runs consistently and much more predictably.
• Changes can be anticipated and don’t require manual intervention to implement, saving time and costs.
• Reduced error rates mean less downtime.

 Feedback

• Smart controls systems also monitor running time and the lifecycles of parts showing mean time to repair and improving efficiency and forward planning.
• Similarly an unexpected operating problem will be communicated before it escalates into a more serious problem.
  Energy efficiency
• A smart system will only run when product needs to be moved rather than constantly running.  For example eco modes built in to optimize efficiencies.