Warehouse Design - Warehouse Technology - from the old to the new

by Graham Mawdsley, Senior Consultant
I first set foot in a retail distribution centre 30 years ago as a management trainee, and it was a very different world to that which we see today.

Back then, there were of course much more sophisticated distribution centres in existence, but I’m talking about the norm, and let’s remember that in the late seventies it was common to find retail chains whose suppliers were required to deliver to individual stores, each with large stockrooms in the High Street!  The realisation that investment in distribution centre processes, as part of an overall more efficient supply chain strategy, could offer benefits that could transform a business’ competitiveness and profitability, took a long time to gain general acceptance.

Nowadays our International Clients regard Europe, and the U.K. in particular, as being at the forefront of this continuing transformation, driven by intense competition amongst ‘enlightened’ businesses.

So, what have been the major contributors to this transformation?

Warehouse Management Systems

A specialised, flexible WMS, configured to meet the specific requirements of an individual business, but able to adapt to change, is now a reality.  The introduction of a WMS, often a major capital investment, no longer means that a desire for continuous improvement is stifled by rigid processes dictated by ‘the system’.

Not only does a modern WMS offer flexibility, but even a small-to-medium size (and cost) example will often offer considerable functionality and support the latest technologies.

RF technologies

RF technologies have transformed many warehouse processes from slow, error-prone, paper-driven tasks, often requiring close supervision, to reliable, performance-driving, accuracy enhancing, real-time interfaces with WMS.

Voice technologies are now proving that they can add still further process efficiencies and, despite a number of setbacks and ‘false dawns’, RFID still promises opportunities and benefits for introduction into the mass-market in the future.

Warehouse automation

In those early years many companies experimented with different ways of handling both flat-packed and hanging garments to improve transport around the warehouse, load marshalling and vehicle loading.

These early trials served to demonstrate the possibilities for labour saving and shortening of order lead times that could result from automation.  They also demonstrated some of the dangers inherent within automated systems, such as the need for conformity by suppliers and the dangers of inflexibility when business requirements change or peak volumes  hit the capacity ceiling!  These, sometimes painful, lessons have been carried forward - and added to in the intervening years.

Warehouse automation still provokes intense debate within businesses, but whether it is a partial mechanisation or full automation, there is usually some benefit to be gained when the solution applied is applicable to the process requirement, stage of development, time or labour constraints and, of course the required ‘return on investment’.

The list goes on… and we must recognise the contributions made by performance measurement, continuous improvement programmes, and in recent years, improvements in demand planning.

Haven’t we come a long way!