Warehouse Management Systems: Saving Money While Improving Operations
Many mid-sized companies assume that automated warehouse management systems are a costly investment they simply can’t afford, but the actual costs of warehouse management solutions are minimal compared to the many ways they can actually help you save money and improve production over time.
Increase Production And Reduce Product Loss
Warehouse management and automated conveyor systems can operate with minimal supervision on all shifts, including weekends and holidays, with minimal increase in costs. Automation also means no time lost due to employee lateness or no-shows. With automation, the right materials are delivered to the correct areas in an economical, timely fashion, reducing loss during manufacturing production runs or high frequency shipping schedules.
Automation doesn’t just finish or pack products faster; it can also improve the quality of the finished products and minimize product and material loss due to breakage, inconsistent handling or inattention by employees.
Improve Storage Capacity And Maximize Space
Using automated conveyor systems practically guarantees you’ll have more storage space for your products before they’re shipped. Better, more efficient use of space translates into less overhead for additional storage and more efficient fulfillment scenarios for your customers.
Conveyor belt systems can be installed in a variety of configurations in order to take optimal advantage of the existing space. They can hang from the ceiling, be mounted to walls or routed around areas of maximum foot traffic to keep things moving smoothly with wasting space or interfering with key areas needed for other tasks.
Reduce Operation Costs With Conveyor Belt Systems
Businesses that use conveyor belt programs typically reduce the need for employees significantly. Automated machinery can do the work of multiple employees; in fact, for each automated task it would usually take two or three employees to perform the same task. You’ll not only need fewer employees on payroll, you’ll also save money on human resources management, employee training and administrative costs.
Improve Employee Retention And Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is notoriously low in warehousing environments because of the potential for accidents and the monotony of many job tasks. Ergonomically designed conveyor belt solutions will increase the comfort level for your employees and reduce the incidence of injuries sustained on the job. By using automated systems, you can also diminish the need for employees to do physically demanding tasks while improving your efficiency and safety record, leading to higher employee on the job satisfaction.
More Consistent Results
The tedium and constant repetition required of workers doing specific tasks can lead to errors that cost your business hundreds or even thousands of dollars in losses every month. Where accuracy and repeatability are crucial to your success, automation can produce repeatable, quality results over and over without giving in to fatigue or boredom.
The many advantages of warehouse management and automated conveyor systems quickly outweigh the design and installation costs for all but the smallest of manufacturers and shippers. If you’ve considered installing these programs to improve efficiency, now is the time. There’s no reason to waste another month on inefficient, high cost warehouse management.
