Potentials of Machine Learning in Revolutionising the Warehouse
Published on : Thursday 16-04-2020
Machine learning, a subset of Artificial Intelligence, has increasingly been utilizing across a wide range of industries over the years to boost efficiency and productivity of business operations. The technology has made it possible to find out patterns in companies’ supply chain data via algorithms. In the warehouse management, warehousing and distribution managers face considerable challenges of how to achieve operational efficiency. But the emergence of machine learning becomes one of the disruptive technologies that has the potential to improve the safety and security of the warehouse, and keep warehouses more organized and deliverable.
With the advancement and ability to learn and process information, machine learning is widely used in a variety of areas in healthcare, education, law and others. The technology is already proven useful for industries that need to realize massive amounts of data.
Here’s How Machine Learning can Bring Revolution in the Warehouse
Machine learning can advance overall supply chain management since the technology is capable of picking up patterns. While finding new patterns in supply chain data that can transform any business, machine learning algorithms perform these findings in supply chain data on a daily basis, without manual interference. The technology can particularly impact inventory levels, quality, supply and demand, production planning and transport management.
Owing to the continuous innovation in the technology landscape, the growth of automation technology is rising. In the warehouse, automation is used to create profits on existing processes by boosting efficiency, speed, agility, reliability, and accuracy, and most importantly cost savings. Implementing automation successfully in the warehouse or distribution center environment relies on close integration with a warehouse management system that helps direct, abridge and track all of the transactions going on in the facilities.
For receiving and organizing products, while new products entering the warehouse need to be stored and organized which takes time to remove items from their original packaging, track their storage location, and place them on the shelves carefully. In this regard, machine learning techniques play a pivotal role because it has the ability to evaluate products’ current location in the warehouse. Additionally, as new shipments come in, the machines can match them to the correct location. This significantly minimizes the time consuming for organizing products to their location as well as gives workers the shortest way to work on other valuable tasks.
Moreover, managing warehouse inventory is the most vital aspect of the supply chain and needing a lot of time to spend in creating optimization systems that can make this process more organized and easier. However, the use of machine learning can improve overall inventory management optimization. This is crucial for those businesses that have multiple warehouses. Machine Learning scrutinizes the variables that could cause errors or delays, and deliver suggestions and solutions to manage stock.
Apart from all these benefits, Machine Learning also helps improve customer satisfaction by providing enhanced communication in the warehouse. The technology adds a level of intelligence to reduce waste, as workers in a warehouse need to be extra careful about items with expiration dates of items.
Considering these advantages of machine learning in the warehouse, we believe, the technology will be leveraged more across organizations’ warehouse in the coming years. It is especially beneficial for companies that handle more than one warehouse. Also, machine learning will advance and evolve with continuous research and development in technology evolving.