Many businesses and retailers are now merging e-commerce and in-store capabilities, which is a double-edged sword. This trending strategy lets them reach more potential customers but also means they have to fill more orders in less time.
Any delay or mistake in the process can result in customer frustration, which hurts the profit margins. So, the warehouse needs a perfect, streamlined, and well-organized way of managing tasks.
Realizing this, many forward-thinking businesses have an incredible embrace of warehouse technologies already, including AR inventory tracking, which promises great things.
Warehouse Panning
Today, warehouses go beyond a place to store goods or a distribution center. Instead, they act as a hub for complex services like inspection, repair, assembly, repacking, shipping, and more. So, it is very important to make a detailed plan for reliably doing all the warehouse tasks. The strategy should include factors like optimal space utilization, warehouse redesigning for potential emergencies, safe storage of seasonal or high-selling goods, etc.
AR can give the warehouse manager and staff a helping hand in planning the warehouse layout. Thanks to the ability to create a digital, interactive 3D warehouse layout, it will bring to the table the opportunity to play with any changes to the existing design. With some trials and experiments, warehouse managers and staff can determine if the plan fits the layout. At the same time, the concerned authority can get the ins and outs of the warehouse layout with many proposed modifications.
Inventory Management
In any warehouse, inventory management is one of the most critical and challenging aspects, and inventory checking is among the most brain-numbing activities in the inventory management process. A few decades ago, warehouse staff had to walk around to check if the stock was good-to-go, in proper condition, or should be replenished.
The traditional stocktaking methods were paper-based and time-consuming. Moreover, employees must receive intensive training to ensure desired work outcomes. The involvement of humans increases the chances of inaccurate stocktaking and errors.
By applying AR, warehouse managers, and staff can hand-free manage stocks. For instance, an employee can see the details such as the order number, bin information (where the product had to be dumped), trolley number, and path number displayed on the screen. That way, they can handle the loading and unloading process without delay.
Order Picking
Another cost-intensive and essential task is order picking. It entails taking the right product at the right time in the right quantities as your customers have requested. Today, all customers expect products and services to be offered faster. Hence, businesses and retailers must streamline the order-picking process at the lowest possible cost to protect their revenue generation.
The traditional approach was a daunting and time-consuming process where employees physically ran around the warehouse to find products as required. It was also cost-intensive and prone to errors.
Fortunately, AR can simplify the whole order-picking process. For instance, after getting informed about a scheduled pickup, staff will wear an AR-based smart glass and move around the facility. Meanwhile, the smart glass will scan the barcodes of the products he sees in the cart. Through audio and visual assistance, he will be guided appropriately to arrive at the right location.
Wrapping It Up
New technologies have made warehouses smarter and more innovative over the last few years. Every vital operation that was carried out by a time-consuming, manual process in the past is now painless, automated, and streamlined thanks to AR inventory tracking and many other advanced technologies.
