Many company decision-makers are tasked with reducing supply chain costs. But warehouses are complex, fast-paced and increasingly difficult to manage as customers expect products to be delivered as quickly as possible. Making the supply chain process more efficient is one of the biggest objectives, and challenges, for many companies.
The good news is that new technology systems can make it easier for organizations to collect and analyze data amassed throughout the supply chain process. Retail Info Systems News reported that data gathering can help companies build more efficiency into the supply chain, become more agile and improve relationships with customers and supply chain stakeholders.
“Retailers can leverage [big data] coupled with real-time tracking and analysis of both structured and unstructured data to build an intelligent, adaptive and highly responsive supply chain and gain end-to-end visibility at a network level,” explained RIS News contributors Ramesh Sethuraman and Satya Krishna Kunadharaju.
They explained that big data solutions can help warehouses in a variety of ways:
- Improve planning and scheduling to eliminate inventory problems using tools like barcode tracking software
- Predict demand based on past trends using automated data collection software that collects information about warehouse activity over time
- Automate inventory planning and development using data collection methods that can provide insights into past shipments so future needs can be assessed
- Track where shipments are in real time to ensure orders are filled on schedule
- Analyze data in real time so resourcing decisions can be made intelligently
Implementing this kind of holistic warehouse management system makes a lot of sense in today’s fast-paced market. For this to be successful, companies should consider their short-term and long-term needs when implementing new automated data collection methods so that they have a system that will support their growth, provide a strong return on investment and address particular business needs, advised Link2Portal.
