Types of Warehouse Automation Solutions

Warehouses are used to store finished goods, raw materials, and partially completed products. They require a high level of human oversight to ensure that the right items are in the right place at the right time. The general goal of warehouse automation is to reduce or eliminate the need for manual tasks to lower costs and improve efficiency.

Here are the main types of automation:

Auto Picking Automation

Auto picking warehouse automation solutions involve using robots and mobile machines to retrieve goods from shelves and place them into a shipping container. Autonomous forklifts, conveyors that travel on ceiling tracks, and automated storage-retrieval units contribute to this type of automation. The entry point for the material handling equipment, called the pick zone, must be kept clear of obstructions at all times to minimize cycle time.

Palletizing Automation

Palletizing integrates products into larger blocks that are easier to handle with automated machinery. These blocks are then put onto pallets or skids for shipment by forklift. Many warehouses offer bundled product groupings to speed up the process of palletizing.

Kitting Automation

Kitting involves organizing items to be ready for shipping to customers, with one item per box or envelope. This type of automation reduces human errors, speeds up packing time, and eliminates the need for operators to walk across large warehouses to retrieve products needed in each unique order.

Inventory Management Automation

Inventory management involves using software and equipment, including barcode scanners and RFID tags, to know where all items are located at all times. This allows warehouse managers always to be aware of stock levels and eliminate overstocks or out-of-stock situations that can damage an organization’s reputation and result in lost sales.

Order Picking Automation

Order picking is placing individual orders in bags, boxes, or other containers so they can easily be picked up and loaded onto a shipping vehicle. Packing slip information is printed on the outside of each container to ensure accuracy.

Warehouse operations and management is a process that has been around for many years. From order picking to fulfillment, warehouse management has gone through several transformations.