Smart Warehouse Management
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Use case: Incorrect deliveries may require adjustments to production, making it essential that the correct products are delivered in the correct quantity and quality. Compliance with legal regulations, such as in the delivery of hazardous goods, must also be guaranteed.
Challenge: Manual checking of documents and products on receipt of goods is prone to errors and takes significant time. Printed documents travelling with shipments do not allow goods to be traced through the supply chain.
Solution: The type and quantity of goods can be clearly identified by scanning barcodes or RFID tags on load carriers. Smart glasses provide employees with all relevant data in their field of vision (‘pick-by-sight’). Accompanying documents from the entire supply chain are displayed digitally on a tablet. Quality deficiencies such as exceeded expiration dates are immediately apparent.
Your benefits: Delivery quality and compliance with legal requirements are ensured. Errors and rejections are reduced. Efficiency is increased.
Use case: Loading and unloading operations at docks or yards need to be organised efficiently to ensure that goods and merchandise are moved smoothly between vehicles and the warehouse.
Challenge: Limited numbers of loading bays and docks can cause bottlenecks, especially during peak periods. A lack of real-time information about the content of deliveries or the status of equipment and labour can lead to delays and complications.
Solution: An IoT-based solution for goods management organises the time slots for delivery and collection at a dock. It also takes into account capacities, priorities and exclusive reservations for suppliers with recurring bookings and allocates equipment such as forklifts or pallet trolleys.
Your benefits: By organising docks, labour and equipment, there are fewer complications and delays. This reduces turnaround times and cuts costs.
Use case: In a production environment, the material flow control system should ensure that the correct quantity of preliminary products reaches the required production location on time.
Challenge: A lack of transparency and unpredictable fluctuations in demand can lead to uncertainties in material flow. Bottlenecks of critical resources such as storage locations, labour, and transport capacities or traffic jams and blocked transport routes can also jeopardise the supply of materials and lead to production interruptions.
Solution: Real-time information on the status of materials and resources enables warehouse managers to react quickly to changes and adjust supplies accordingly. Dynamic route planning avoids congestion and preliminary product delivery complications.
Your benefits: Optimised material flow control offers greater production reliability and greater efficiency in the stocking of primary products.
Use case: During order picking, goods and materials are prepared for dispatch and production, respectively. It is crucial that orders are followed and the right goods are put together in the right quantities to ensure customer satisfaction.
Challenge: With paper-based orders, outdated or inaccurate inventory data can lead to picking errors. Inaccurate data can cause incorrect orders and late deliveries.
Solution: Digital devices such as scanners can call up all data required for efficient and accurate order picking. IoT-supported ‘pick-by-sight’ systems use smart glasses to show employees the exact location of products to be selected for an order. ‘Pick-by-voice’ devices enable hands-free, voice-controlled workflows. This not only speeds up order picking, but also ensures that the data in the ERP system is always up to date.
Your benefits: The probability of errors is reduced and customer satisfaction is increased. More efficient picking saves time and reduces costs.
Use case: Labelling enables accurate and efficient marking of materials and goods and the automation of processes through digital labels (ESLs) and the scanning of barcodes or QR codes.
Challenge: Without automated documentation of locations, searching for products and materials is time-intensive. Warehouse staff often lack important or up-to-date information on goods and the supply chain.
Solution: All information about goods and shipping, such as the delivery address, sender, recipient, delivery instructions and other logistical details, is contained in the label. Using handheld scanners and smart glasses , labels can easily be captured, matched and enriched with additional information from databases. Digital labels also enable remote control, making it much easier to customise details such as quantities or prices.
Your benefits: Labelling enables material to be clearly identified and makes finding material in the warehouse more efficient. The use of ESLs also digitises the control of important material data, saving not only time but also process costs.
Use case: The purpose of inventory control is to ensure that sufficient quantities of goods or pre-products are always available to meet customer demand or production requirements.
Challenge: Paper-based stocktaking is time-consuming. As many movements of goods are not documented on paper, lengthy searches are necessary to obtain a comprehensive overview. Proof of compliance with legal and operational requirements is also difficult due to a lack of documentation. As there is no transparency regarding stock, shortages and overstocks can occur.
Solution: Using mobile scanners or smart glasses, employees can call up information on warehousing requirements for each item, such as temperature, humidity or other information on correct storage. The location of the item is automatically updated in the warehouse management system. Digital recording makes documentation more complete and error-free than manual data entry.
Your benefits: Automated and seamless documentation provides an overview of all stock movements. This makes it easier to plan replenishment quantities. Errors in quantity or storage location are recognised immediately. An inventory overview is always available in real-time.
Use case: The purpose of stocktaking is to ensure the reliability of warehouse data. It is used to identify errors and discrepancies between actual stock levels and those recorded in the system. These errors include incorrect quantities, missing products and unrecorded receipts, among other issues.
Challenge: With manual inventory methods, there is a risk of human error, especially when counting items manually. This can lead to inaccuracies in the inventory results.
Solution: Digital devices such as barcode and RFID scanners provide precise inventory data that is updated in real-time. This data can be synchronised with an ERP system and shared with suppliers via standardised interfaces. The goods management system suggests an optimum quantity and order time for each item, drawing on previous procurement history and taking seasonal fluctuations into account.
Your benefits: Digital inventory leads to better data and fewer errors. As the optimum quantity of items is always in stock, both shortages and surpluses are avoided.
Use case: To ensure the smooth flow of goods, load carriers such as pallets or containers must be optimally handled, organised, tracked and maintained. Sensible reuse reduces costs and protects the environment.
Challenge: Load carriers can be lost or stolen, resulting in high costs. Manual management is time-consuming. In addition, inefficient use can lead to empty runs and waiting times, which further increases operating costs.
Solution: When goods arrive and leave the warehouse, load carriers are automatically recorded by a scanner. Their further use is planned by software which provides a real-time overview of which load carriers are in the warehouse and which have been loaded with goods for transportation.
Your benefits: Optimum use of load carriers reduces costs and avoids bottlenecks. With constant clarity about the location of containers and pallets, reuse is easy to implement.
Use case: Delivery of goods in perfect condition and in the correct quantity and quality is critical. Improper packaging, an incorrect shipping address and missing or incorrectly completed shipping documents must be avoided.
Challenge: Manually checking goods and documents at the dock takes time and is prone to errors. Paper documents provide employees with too little and potentially out-of-date information about the order to allow for comprehensive control.
Solution: Using barcode or RFID scanners, employees can retrieve all order details on a tablet or data glasses. This allows them to check documents for completeness and carry out a comprehensive quality check.
Your benefits: As errors are avoided, customer satisfaction increases. Fewer costs are incurred due to returns and complaints.
Digital warehouse management is an IoT solution (or combination of several IoT solutions) for modernising warehouse operations, replacing manual processes with digital ones, ensuring the accuracy of inventory data and increasing process efficiency.
Digital warehouse solutions include a software component, the warehouse management system (WMS), and IoT devices such as barcode scanners, RFID readers, smart glasses and trackers. These devices can be used, for example, to track the routes of goods and landing carriers in the warehouse and efficiently provide employees with data.
Digital warehouse management increases efficiency, reduces costs, improves customer satisfaction and strengthens competitiveness. Here are some examples of the benefits it offers:
- Optimised flow of goods: Automating the entire order handling process, from receipt to dispatch, leads to faster throughput times, reduces processing times and improves delivery accuracy.
- Improved goods management: Digital warehouse management automates many manual processes in the warehouse to increase the efficiency of goods management, including stock control and material flow control in production environments.
- Efficient scheduling: Automatic identification technologies such as barcodes, RFID and scanners improve the accuracy of inventory data. This minimises errors during recording and prevents overstocking or understocking.
- Real-time monitoring: It enables real-time monitoring of stock levels and activities. Digital warehouse management helps provide up-to-date information on warehouse statuses through real-time monitoring of stock levels and activities enabling quick decision-making.
- Lower costs: By automating warehouse processes, optimising space utilisation and reducing errors, companies can lower their operating costs. This includes labour, warehousing and shipping costs.
- More effective staff deployment: Skilled labour is in short supply, so staff need to be deployed as effectively as possible. Mobile devices such as tablets, voice-controlled devices and smart glasses provide employees with up-to-date data wherever they are and enable real-time communication, which improves collaboration.
Warehouse management makes a significant contribution to a company's efficiency and profitability. Some of the reasons inventory management is essential include:
- Avoiding shortages and overstocking: Efficient inventory management helps maintain optimal stock levels. This means having enough items in stock to fulfil customer demand while avoiding overstocking which could lead to increased storage costs, spoilage, theft or lack of space.
- Customer satisfaction: Through accurate inventory management, companies can ensure that the right products are available at the right time. This helps fulfil customer orders on time and increases customer satisfaction.
- Cost efficiency: Not only does inventory tie up capital but storage costs can be significant. Efficient inventory management enables companies to optimise stock levels and minimise unnecessary costs by aiming for exactly the right levels of stock.
- Risk mitigation: Stock is exposed to various risks, such as theft, spoilage and technical problems. Effective inventory management helps minimise these risks by implementing safety precautions and controls.
- Optimisation of work processes: Warehouse management systems make it possible to automate and optimise warehouse processes. This leads to a more efficient use of labour and resources, which in turn increases overall performance and profit .
- Meeting delivery times: On-time deliveries are critical for maintaining customer relationships. Through accurate inventory management, organisations can ensure that products are dispatched on time, supporting delivery time compliance.
In summary, effective warehouse management helps to minimise storage costs, increase customer satisfaction, reduce risk and improve operational efficiency.
The terms ‘warehouse management’ and ‘warehouse management system’ are often used interchangeably, but refer to different concepts.
Warehouse management refers to the general practices, processes and strategies that a company implements to manage its inventory efficiently. It includes both manual and automated procedures used to organise the physical flow of goods from receipt to storage to delivery. This includes decisions on inventory policies, order quantities, storage locations, stock control and other related aspects.
In contrast, a warehouse management system (WMS) is a specialised software or information system designed to support and automate the warehouse management process. As a digital platform, it offers functions such as inventory tracking, order processing, storage space optimisation, reporting and integration with other business systems. A warehouse management system usually enables more precise and efficient control over inventory and optimises operational processes, serving as a tool within the broader warehouse management system.
Warehouse management comprises various components that together ensure the smooth running of warehouse processes. The key elements include:
- Inventory tracking: The ability to know the location and quantity of each item in the warehouse. This often involves the use of technologies such as barcodes or RFID.
- Order management: The capability to process orders, adjust prices, track deliveries and manage returns.
- Storage location management: The efficient organisation and allocation of storage locations for different products to facilitate access and make the best use of space.
- Reporting and analysis: The analysis of data to identify patterns in warehouse processes, predict future demand and sales and improve overall efficiency.
- Procurement: The creation and management of purchase orders to replenish stock and ensure sufficient products are available.
- Shipping functions: The automation of shipping processes to minimise errors such as late deliveries or the delivery of incorrect items.
The different kinds of warehouse management costs can vary depending on a wide variety of factors. Here are some of the main types:
- Warehousing costs: This includes the cost of storing goods, including rent for storage space, insurance, security measures and energy costs.
- Inventory costs: The cost of purchasing goods and materials stored in the warehouse.
- Labour costs: The cost of employees working in warehouse management, including wages, training and benefits.
- Technology costs: The investment in technologies such as barcode scanners, RFID systems or warehouse management software that help optimise warehouse processes.
- Transportation costs: The cost of transporting goods from the supplier to the warehouse and from the warehouse to the point of sale or customer.
- Error costs: Costs that can arise due to errors in warehouse management, such as incorrect deliveries, lost products or incorrect allocation of storage locations.
- Spoilage and damage costs: These costs may occur during the storage of perishable or sensitive goods and include losses due to damage or deterioration.
Smart warehouse management is nothing without mobile devices – barcode and QR scanners, tablets, data glasses and pick-by-voice devices collect data, feeding it to software so it is available to employees where they need it.
That’s why we are your ideal partner for optimising your warehouse management: Because Deutsche Telekom is known for its comprehensive expertise in the field of mobile communications. With us, you get not only the data connection, but also the right software solution and advice from a single source.
Working in close cooperation with our partners, our employees will find the best possible solution for your individual challenges. Our long-standing and successful partnerships not only guarantee you stability and the optimum implementation of your solutions, but they also allow us to offer you holistic solutions that include other business processes such as supply chain management or fleet management in addition to warehouse management.
Sound interesting? Don't hesitate to contact our experts for advice!