{"id":1283,"date":"2019-02-15T10:32:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T07:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=888"},"modified":"2023-08-02T16:49:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T16:49:59","slug":"five-predictions-on-the-future-of-smart-warehousing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/future-of-work\/five-predictions-on-the-future-of-smart-warehousing\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Predictions On The Future Of Smart Warehousing"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was first published on Internet of Business.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ready to learn Machine Learning? Browse courses<\/a>\u00a0like\u00a0Robotics Application Machine Learning<\/a> developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Warehousing is no longer the dumb, static component in the supply chain, but an area that\u2019s ripe for smart transformation. Chris Middleton and Kayla Mathews report.<\/em><\/p>\n

Customers want goods made to order and delivered as soon as possible, in a way that suits their flexible lifestyles. That\u2019s a byproduct of the mobile, app-driven, on-demand age.<\/p>\n

But for many organisations and their warehousing and logistics experts, those customer wants can shine a harsh spotlight on legacy business models.<\/p>\n

Smart warehousing by the likes of Amazon and Ocado \u2013 and China\u2019s Alibaba, where robots carry out 70 per cent of tasks \u2013 is making rapid technology advancements the norm. In turn, this is forcing those companies\u2019 competitors to change how they manage their storage and logistics, in order to compete with next-day delivery cycles \u2013 and the giants\u2019 cheaper, more efficient processes.<\/p>\n

We know that broad-spectrum automation is happening on the back of advances in industrial robotics. And we know that related technologies, such as drones, are becoming\u00a0faster and safer<\/a>\u00a0around human beings in complex settings, such as warehouses.<\/p>\n

But what other trends are affecting warehousing? Internet of Business asked four experts for their predictions about how warehousing will develop in 2018 and beyond.<\/p>\n

And, of course, we added some of our own.<\/p>\n

1: Robotics and cognitive computing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Taking a cue from Amazon, Alibaba,\u00a0et al<\/em>, process automation will move centre stage \u2013 not only via the use of physical robots that replicate manual tasks, but also through robotic software applications and cognitive computing services, such as AI and machine learning.<\/p>\n

Thiagu Bala, a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting with over 20 years of business and IT experience, says: \u201cIn 2018, two technologies will combine: robotic process automation (RPA) \u2014 involving small, repeatable software programmes or bots \u2014 and cognitive computing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will make a huge difference when it comes to data, by enabling labour to focus on truly mission-critical activities. When RPA is combined with cognitive analysis, it gives programs the ability to act like humans by making business decisions on the fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you combine the transactional processing of purely repeatable tasks with business processes \u2013 and also root-based decision-support systems \u2013 that\u2019s truly a game-changer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

2: Predictive maintenance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A mix of different technologies is impacting on the traditional idea of maintenance.<\/p>\n

Until the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) and supporting technologies, maintenance had long been a passive, reactive process:\u00a0i.e.<\/em>\u00a0waiting for things to break, then fixing them.<\/p>\n

Today a mix of technologies, including enterprise asset management (EAM), digital twins \u2013 exploded 3D representations of objects and their components \u2013 sensors, RFID tags, smart supply chains, and AI, is allowing organisations to gain unprecedented insight into the lifecycle of products, components, and even materials.<\/p>\n

Using these and other technologies, objects can not only tell organisations when they need fixing, maintenance, or upgrade, but also\u00a0predict<\/em>\u00a0when they\u2019re likely to fail, enabling end-to-end lifecycle management.<\/p>\n

Warehouses around the world are increasingly adopting proactive maintenance processes so that costly and time-consuming equipment failures are less likely to happen. And, of course, the same processes can be used to protect perishable stock.<\/p>\n

Eberhard Klotz is the head of the Industry 4.0 division at Festo, a company focused on industrial automation and control. He says, \u201cThere will be comprehensive condition monitoring, which helps to avoid or reduce downtime and optimises maintenance procedures and mobile maintenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, the faster we can be made aware of an issue and analyse it, the faster we can implement a repair before a minor issue becomes a major problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

3: Warehousing on demand<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Everyone is familiar with how sharing-economy platforms and apps, such as Uber, Airbnb, and Laundrapp, have disrupted centuries-old sectors, such as personal transport, accommodation, and cleaning. But what few people realise is that the model is now being applied to industrial warehousing.<\/p>\n

Startups such as\u00a0Flexe<\/a>\u00a0in the US and\u00a0Stowga<\/a>\u00a0in the UK have created apps and cloud platforms that transform both the buy and sell sides of the market. They\u2019re allowing warehouse owners to lease out spare capacity, and clients to rent it on demand over timescales that range from days to months.<\/p>\n

The idea might seem simple enough, but the implications could be transformative.<\/p>\n

For example, organisations no longer need to think of warehousing in terms of massive regional hubs that require long-distance road haulage (with the expense and environmental impact that entails). Instead, they can now manage it as a national or international grid of smaller facilities that can be expanded or contracted on demand.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile on the sell side of the equation, organisations no longer need to carry vast amounts of unused capacity that costs them money, especially when the economy is unpredictable. With these new on-demand platforms, unused space becomes a commercial asset.<\/p>\n

In turn, the model could help regenerate brownfield sites and unused buildings, in the same way that Airbnb has pushed people to invest in and renovate private accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have it on a flexible model, you can just dial down your warehousing in line with your business needs and reduce your liability,\u201d said Stowga CEO Charlie Pool in a recent\u00a0interview<\/a> with IoB editor, Chris Middleton.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our customers\u2019 perspective, in good times it allows them to be agile, move quickly, open a new market \u2013 or close a new market, which is equally important. They can test it, and if it doesn\u2019t work out they can try it somewhere else.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

4. 3D printing and cobots<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the future, the distinctions between factory floor and warehouse may begin to disappear. Once some factories move away from monolithic, mass-production and distribution cycles (see\u00a0Internet of Business says<\/em>\u00a0below) and into fabrication on demand, the implications could be transformative.<\/p>\n

For example, some warehouses may become smaller, smarter, and more closely integrated with manufacturing, even as others follow the Alibaba model by becoming larger and more automated.<\/p>\n

Technologies such as programmable cobots \u2013 robots that work alongside human beings \u2013 will be increasingly important in these cases, following the smartphone model by becoming programmable platforms for a range of process- or industry-specific apps. (Why invest in a massive, single-use machine when you can invest in a smart, upgradable platform that can be redeployed elsewhere?)<\/p>\n

3D printing will be another ingredient in the mix. Most organisations are familiar with the concept of using this emergent technology for small, specialised projects. However, some Industry 4.0 analysts believe that 3D printing will become an increasingly important tool on a larger scale.<\/p>\n

Andrew Hughes, a principal analyst at LNS Research with 30 years\u2019 experience in the manufacturing industry, sees a prominent role for 3D printing in rapid fulfilment: \u201c3D printing brings design, manufacturing, and service flexibility to many industries,\u201d he says. \u201cAs speed, quality, and materials improve, those that exploit the new possibilities will be the winners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you make today is a limiting factor for most manufacturers, but we are already seeing \u2018manufacturing hubs\u2019, where a facility can produce items to order for an enormous variety of customers and deliver in a short timescale.<\/p>\n

\u201cManufacturing really is becoming a critical part of the supply chain and logistics. Print-to-order manufacturing flexibility means having the right printers, materials, and designs ready for any customer order. It brings us back to the fact that Industry 4.0 is, in fact, all about data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a video about how one company, sports shoes giant Adidas, is reinventing the traditional concept of the factory.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s smart warehouses are increasingly rolling out transformation strategies that deploy sensors connected to the IoT \u2013 so 5. IoT Standards and regulations<\/strong>that robots, workers, managers, and even smart vehicles, know the location of every item and can track them on their journeys.<\/p>\n

But as Kristi Montgomery, VP of innovation at Kenco Innovation Labs, points out, no standards yet define how IoT devices should communicate with each other, or store and process information.<\/p>\n

She thinks that will change, and soon: \u201cThe promise of IoT is disrupting all industries, and it seems like the future is bright. The emergence of IoT is an amazing thing for supply chain executives. And it\u2019s especially exciting as the enabling technology is becoming less expensive and more readily available, meaning that large-scale deployments are now possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, despite all the excitement and possibilities, some real roadblocks remain: namely, that IoT technology is like the Wild West: there are no existing standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese will define how IoT devices will communicate and how data will be collected, processed, handled, stored, and summarised.\u00a0Those concerns extend from 2018 into the future, as companies work to establish a regulatory standard, though nothing has emerged yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internet of Business says<\/h3>\n

Of course, blockchain will have an impact on the latter, too. But what all of the above technologies are\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0about is a much bigger picture: the shift from monolithic, slow, reactive supply chains (global scale), to smarter, faster, automated networks (local scale).<\/p>\n

For example, instead of manufacturing a million trainers in China and then shipping them worldwide at vast expense and environmental impact \u2013 a glacially slow, inefficient process \u2013 why not make a single pair to order in a smart, automated local facility, and deliver the shoes the next day? That\u2019s the real-world concept being developed by Adidas with its Speedfactories (see video, above).<\/p>\n

This is the \u2018PAL\u2019 value chain concept discussed by\u00a0Sean Culey in his excellent report for Internet of Business<\/a>: an integrated manufacturing and distribution model that is personalised, automated, and localised. We urge you to read it.<\/p>\n

In this new, connected world, the manufacturing dominance of China \u2013 and even the need for offshore outsourcing itself \u2013 suddenly seem antiquated. Matching manufacturing, distribution, and logistics to customer need, and not to the lowest labour cost: in an automated world, that\u2019s the real opportunity.<\/p>\n

This article was co-written with Kayla Matthews, \u00a0a senior writer for MakeUseOf, and a contributing writer to Marketing Dive, Manufacturing Business Technology Magazine, and Inc.com.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Customers want goods made to order and delivered as soon as possible, in a way that suits their flexible lifestyles. That’s a byproduct of the mobile, app-driven, on-demand age. But for many organisations and their warehousing and logistics experts, those customer wants can shine a harsh spotlight on legacy business models. Today’s smart warehouses are increasingly rolling out transformation strategies that deploy sensors connected to the IoT – so that robots, workers, managers, and even smart vehicles, know the location of every item and can track them on their journeys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":241,"featured_media":2814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[116,771,769,768,770],"ppma_author":[2821],"class_list":["post-1283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-future-of-work","tag-automation","tag-business-models","tag-future-of-smart-warehousing","tag-smart-warehousing","tag-warehousing"],"authors":[{"term_id":2821,"user_id":241,"is_guest":0,"slug":"chris-middleton","display_name":"Chris Middleton","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Middleton","first_name":"Chris","job_title":"","description":"Chris Middleton<\/a> is the editor of Internet of Business and specialises in robotics, AI, the IoT, and technology strategy. He is former editor of Computing, Computer Business Review, and Professional Outsourcing, among others, and is a contributing editor to Diginomica, Computing, and Hack and Craft News. Over the years, he has also written for Computer Weekly, The Guardian, The Times, PC World, I-CIO, V3, and The Inquirer, among many others. He is an acknowledged robotics expert who has appeared on BBC TV and radio, and ITN, and is probably the only tech journalist in the UK to own a number of humanoid robots, which he hires out to events, exhibitions, universities, and schools."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/241"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1283"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}