Wireless technologies to transform supply chain

Organisations delaying their investment until RFID reaches technical and financial maturity are missing an opportunity.

There are huge gains to be made today from wireless barcode scanning and the downstream use of wireless technologies to authenticate deliveries.

So why do 60% of medium-sized distribution companies still rely on manual warehouse operations, asks Steven Hargreaves, Product Director, Solarsoft.

Wireless Ubiquity.

Wireless technology has become a standard part of everyday commercial life.

From the executive Blackberry to Wi-Fi in coffee shops and hotels, the ability to keep in touch, check emails and even update orders while mobile has become an essential business tool.

Yet the majority of warehousing operations in the UK are still reliant on manual, paper-based processes.

Indeed, despite the near decade-long focus on innovative wireless solutions such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), equipment vendors estimate that around 60% of SMEs are not even using barcodes and handheld wireless scanning guns, even though this technology has been widely used to deliver quantifiable benefits for many years.

While some markets have been driven by giant retailers such as Wal-Mart to adopt RFID, in reality the jury is still out on whether RFID technology will ever achieve required levels of standardisation, reliability and price to be viable throughout the supply chain.

Those organisations postponing their wireless investments as they wait for RIFD to deliver are missing out on the chance to streamline processes, drive down cost and improve customer service.

Why wait for the arrival of cutting-edge technology when today's wireless solutions are proven, low-cost and low-risk? Missed Opportunity.

Any organisation with more than two or three individuals carrying out picking, packing and put-away activities in the warehouse could realise significant productivity gains from barcoding solutions tightly integrated to the ERP software.

In most cases, the simple automation of the warehouse process using barcodes delivers operational gains in the region of 15-30%.

One Solarsoft customer cut goods-in booking time by 90%.

Other benefits include accuracy in locating goods which improves productivity, reduces lost goods and improves packing accuracy.

This not only enables companies to reduce working capital but also delivers a significant improvement in customer service levels.

The perception that the technology is complicated to set up and deploy is a myth.

This is highly mature wireless technology - modern ERP systems can interoperate reliably with any of the scanning guns on the market and handle more than one barcoding system if required.

Of course, the need for multiple barcoding systems has been a barrier to adoption for some organisations.

The SME typically has little sway in the supply chain and may be called upon to adopt both the barcoding systems of supplier and customer, creating an uncomfortable central position.

The solution will vary from industry to industry.

In some cases it will be possible to adopt supplier barcodes and simply pass these on through the supply chain, making the process extremely simple.

In others, with multiple suppliers, the distributor will have to manage different numbering schemes alongside its own barcode labelling.

In practice, such systems, whilst needing thought and evaluation, are simple to manage.

Irrespective of the barcoding scheme adoption, the key is to ensure the ERP system can handle multiple schemes and formats.

Once in place, there are huge opportunities to add value for customers, such as pre-labelling products at the warehouse with the retail price as well as barcodes, enabling the downstream retailer to streamline its own stock management processes.

Supply Chain Benefits.

Once warehouse automation is in place, organisations can leverage the barcoding system to drive improvements through the supply chain to the point of delivery.

Providing delivery drivers with mobile handheld devices enables real-time goods tracking, whilst photographic evidence or signatures can be captured in the field to show proof of delivery.

This proof of delivery is vital for many organisations servicing the building industry, where anything from bricks and cement to bathrooms and expensive heating units will be delivered on site.

The ability to capture signatures and photograph the goods in situ to prove fitness is a key technology in minimising complaints or confusion.

Indeed, leveraging the real-time GSM mobile networks, this information can be received in real-time at the back office.

Should any problems arise with the delivery - whether error or a customer change of mind - the organisation can immediately schedule a replacement delivery or authorised return.

This immediate response drives up customer service, whilst immediate rescheduling often saves days in the delivery of a replacement item, again improving the customer relationship.

Extended Wireless Benefits.

Tight integration between wireless barcode systems and ERP also provides organisations with unprecedented insight into the performance of warehouse operations.

In any manual operation, it is far too expensive to capture operational information, since it requires time-consuming form-filling and manual collation of information.

Once the barcoding system is up and running, organisations are automatically capturing performance data.

Combining this information with Business Intelligence tools, organisations can quickly assess the performance of different teams, shifts, even individuals, as well as performance across different product groups.

This transparency enables organisations to drive significant procedural improvements across the warehouse.

Taking wireless technology a step further, companies can look to voice picking and packing systems to yield additional gains.

This technology is proven and mature and particularly useful in tough environments where operators require heavy-duty gloves or require both hands to lift products, constraining the use of handheld technology.

A nice capability of these wireless technologies is that they can be deployed with support for multi-lingual instructions, addressing demands for English/Polish in the UK and English/Spanish in the US, for example.

Wireless Success.

The adoption of simple wireless technologies such as barcode scanning provides a platform for significant operational improvement.

Critically, not only is there international backing for simple barcode standards, avoiding the problems inherent with RFID, but these wireless technologies, from Wi-Fi devices around the warehouse and out in the field via the GSM mobile network, are well proven.

Furthermore, with the upfront investment coming in at around GBP2,000 per user, most organisations are attaining a return on investment within 18 months.

This is a low-cost, low-risk investment available today and based on robust, proven wireless technology that delivers quantifiable benefits in reduced costs, improved productivity and enhanced customer service.

So why waste time and money waiting for the RFID hype to be realised?.

Back to top