Package dimensioner – For optimizing warehouse performance
Summary
According to a recent poll, eCommerce retail revenues are expected to soar from 14.1 % to 22 % by 2023 due to exponential growth in online shopping.
The deployment of automation in the eCommerce warehouse and distribution centers can be the only survivor to increase productivity and business ROI.
Global warehouse and distribution centers right now are deploying package dimensioners to maximize workspace efficiencies to keep up with this demand and bring deliveries out the door quicker.
This blog will provide you with some flabbergasting tips to optimize warehouse performance utilizing the automated package dimensioners.
Written for:
- Warehouse Automation Manager:
Understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming warehouses and how it can make their jobs easier.
- Logistics Specialist:
Collaborate with suppliers and customers to complete last-mile delivery, understanding the Supply Chain and Logistics industry trends and the impact of AI in their core domain.
- Operations Specialist:
Ensuring that procedures and repetitive functions are to keep the warehouse running safely and effectively. Concentrate on raising efficiency by automation and bettering business processes.
Introduction
Consider the following scenario: It’s a seasonal peak, and you’ve received the most amount of orders you’ve ever received. You need to focus on two things at this time: 1—Promptly delivering things to clients’ doorsteps with no harm. 2—Ensure that the items are delivered to the correct clients. Gaining customer satisfaction would be simple if these two things were done right. However, to meet delivery deadlines, the warehouse must optimize some operating patterns and automate various iterative warehouse processes.
So how do you optimize warehouse operations?
A productive warehouse maximizes capacity, streamlines processes, and promotes worker productivity. As an organization runs smoothly, consumers receive their orders on schedule, and its bottom line remains secure. To build a thriving organization, you need to accumulate information, and gathering the precise dimensional details of the products plays an integral role. Unfortunately, you cannot collect accurate dimensioning information by measuring the product’s dimensions with a tape and ruler. We can replace the traditional dimensioning approach and conserve time and money by deploying an automated package dimensioner in the warehouse and fulfillment center.
Let’s understand how deploying automated package dimensioners can optimize warehouse performance?
An efficient warehouse is critical for customer satisfaction because it helps ensure quick, accurate shipments. However, a traditional warehouse has much work going on at any time, which means there’s still a need for quality improvements.
Below are the areas you can optimize the warehouse performance with automated package dimensioners:
Space planning and design
When an organization decides to expand, it always looks for additional or new facilities, and this means the storage designer should involve a deep knowledge of the type of space they need to store a product, analyze products volume, and how each product is stored, either kept on a pallet or separately. The responses will determine everything from the configuration of the facility’s picking and packaging areas to the amount of storage used. With the deployment of package dimensioners, space planning becomes simple and efficient. You can quickly determine the amount of space required to store or place the products during inbound and outbound.
Storage space
Storage is an imperative asset of eCommerce warehouses and distribution centers. Organizations with good dimensional data will make the most of their storage capacity. After weighing and measuring stock-keeping units (SKUs), the product profiles can be recorded to a warehouse management system (WMS) to determine each product’s best storage position and location. This assists save space in the distribution centers, but it also means that the SKUs can fit in their designated areas. With the package dimensioner integrated with WMS, we can effectively allot the storage space for future-readiness.
Slotting
The method of allocating products to warehouse locations based on organization rules and product attributes is known as slotting. After the product measurements have been captured, they are imported into the slotting applications. Then we can utilize that information to determine how to arrange products within the pick zones to maximize order fulfillment.
Picking
Dimensional data can be decisive in avoiding carton sorting errors in operations. Warehouse pickers are often left to make educated assumptions about what carton to use, which can be expensive. If the package is too big, the corporation will pay to transport it by air. If the box is too thin, the packer must remove the goods and repack them, which can cause throughput disruption. Dimensional data can assist in guaranteeing that the proper size carton is used.
Validation
The weight of an SKU will be utilized to validate picking until product information has been collected and uploaded to the WMS software. The WMS assesses how much each order will weigh as soon as it is shipped, based on the weight of the carton itself and each item it carries. Following the assembly of the order, the carton is weighed—often using an in-line scale on a conveyor system. The carton should be put aside for further examination if the actual weight varies from the estimated weight. Hand-operated order validation may be eliminated with automated verification, resulting in saving significant time and labor.
Packing
Organizations can benefit significantly from dimensional data when it comes to package optimization. Shipping products in big cartons filled with filler will result in waste and inefficiency, and it happens pretty often than you would expect. In operations that use standard-sized cartons, dimensional information may also support packaging optimization. The dimensional information is used in computer-assisted carton picking and how many void fill and other packaging materials to use. With the deployment of an automated package dimensioner, you can effectively calibrate the dimensional information of small and medium-sized parcels, which will be more helpful during the picking operation.
Pallet construction
When it comes to designing a secure pallet, dimensional details can be beneficial. Once the dimensional data is uploaded in the WMS software, the device will decide how each object can be placed on the pallet to maintain load consistency – typically for larger and heavier items on the bottom. But this cannot be efficiently accomplished with the traditional tape and ruler dimensioning method.
Building a load
Not only can dimensional and weight data aid in constructing pallets, but it can also assist in constructing trailers and other conveyance weights. For example, suppose an operation is transporting complete pallets, cases, irregularly formed goods, or a combination of any of the above. In that case, the dimensional data is recorded into shipping, warehousing, or load building applications, which decides how to load the truck to maximize room while remaining within weight limits.
Shipping
The introduction of dim weight pricing has altered parcel shipping’s economics, but robust dimensional data will aid shippers in preventing expensive mistakes. A shipper tendering a comprehensive, low-density package must decide both the package’s actual weight and its dimensional weight under the carriers’ dim weight rules. The freight fee is measured accordingly if the dimensional weight is greater than the actual weight. Shippers can ensure they’re rating their parcels precisely to prevent parcel chargebacks by collecting accurate dimensional details on their deliveries.
Conclusion
When products roll out on time and customers are happy, it’s easy to assume a company is efficient. Still, it’s incredible how many minor tweaks can positively impact an organization’s bottom line. Good warehouse efficiency is not only about putting everything in its place and getting products out on time, and it’s about maximizing productivity while saving time and money. By deploying the right automated package dimensioner, you can accelerate warehouse performance seamlessly.
