Warehouse automation problems are frustrating because, if unresolved, they end up exacerbating the issues they were implemented to deal with in the first place: product damage, slow throughput, and shipping errors. Each of these problems can result in massive production delays that lead to lost revenue and an increased total cost of business (TCOB). Proactively…
Automation is often used as a byword for dystopia, utopia, and every vision of the future that falls in-between. In practice, however, it’s clear that automation improves the efficiency, productivity, and reliability of manufacturing and logistics. In a world where quick turnaround and even quicker fulfillment is considered the most important performance indicator in the…
The cost of a cold chain failure can be extensive. Massive product losses inevitably cut into a company’s bottom line and waste valuable resources. And that isn’t the only cost of a breach in the cold chain. In some cases, a cold chain issue has the potential to affect public health, as when sensitive vaccines…
The cold chain is different from other types of supply chains because failure almost always results in the loss of products. If a nonperishable item–a package of toothbrushes, for example–is unintentionally left in a hot warehouse too long, the product will be salvageable. The same can’t be said for a crate of fruit or pallet…
For many people, the phrase “warehouse automation” brings up images of the clunky but much-hyped machines of decades past that never quite fulfilled their promises and left many skeptical about the benefits of warehouse automation. However, automation has exponentially improved and is making inroads into jobs that were once thought impossible to automate. The latest…
For years, automated palletizers have taken the place of human labor in the onerous task of stacking products on pallets in many production facilities, but these automated systems are not truly robotic. They use conveyor belts and a succession of adjustments to line up cartons for stacking. Because they have difficulty palletizing mixed case loads…