The ever-changing world of e-commerce has resulted in some incredible innovations for order picking, delivering increasingly fast solutions for rising consumer demand. The days of batch picking for retail outlets is steadily being replaced with single order picking for the home delivery market, and warehouses and distribution centres are constantly looking for ways to improve
efficiency and accuracy of picking.
Robotics and technology innovations have transformed the industry and looks set to be the way forward for most companies, of all sizes. Virtual reality and augmented reality technology can improve a facilities production by up to 20 percent and with greater accuracy, reducing costly returns and reverse logistics. Advanced robotic engineering has improved grippers, which can now be found with adaptable multiple gripping positions combined with suction pads for safer and faster handling. Virtual reality glasses, as well as improving picking speeds and hands-free picking, can help warehouse management systems predict future customer demand, influencing the layout of warehouses such as the positioning of packing stations for greater efficiency.
The costs of order picking can be as high as 50 percent of a facilities overhead, so any innovations to reduce these costs are crucial to the bottom line. Reducing unproductive walking time between picking and improving accuracy are just some of the advantages that new technologies can offer. The internet is revolutionising the consumer market, and the necessity for companies to keep up with customer demand and offer a better and faster service than competitors, has become the new emphasis, resulting in some exciting innovations for the industry.
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