• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Q&A | Tackling Automation and Innovation in the Warehouse
Video

Q&A | Tackling Automation and Innovation in the Warehouse

May 20, 2019
SupplyChainBrain

Automation in warehousing is all the rage today — but how does a facility even begin to approach the topic? Richard Kooistra, vice president of automation with Twinlode Automation, offers some practical advice on implementation.

SCB: What are some practical ways that automation can be implemented today?

Kooistra: From a practicality standpoint, you need to have an overall objective and plan for your business. Then you take a staged approach, where you do implementation in maybe two, three, or four steps in order to get to your overall goal.

SCB: “Automation” is such a broad term, especially when it refers to warehouses. How do we even start to get our arms around the issue — prioritize what type of automation is necessary, and which direction to go in?

Kooistra: That’s the fundamental question that the majority of our customers are asking right now. I like to do material-flow diagrams and talk to customers about tracing product through the business, then using data to develop a plan for where they want to go. Another big thing is which industry segment is the customer in. It's going to be a big driver as well, with regards to looking at automation.

SCB: You have to drill down to what you really need and what you don't need too, right?

Kooistra: Sure. Another thing to consider is the culture or mindset of the customers. Are they in an industry segment that embraces technology from ownership, all the way down to people working in supply chain and logistics? Or are they in one where they might say, "You know what? I don't really embrace it all that much, but we've got to do it.” That’s when we use education, site visits, and YouTube, showing them examples of how you can practically put automation into your business, and how it can work for you.

SCB: What is top management demanding these days in terms of ROI? How much time do you have before you have to prove out the effectiveness of a system?

Kooistra: That has changed over the years, absolutely. They're now demanding it has to be less than three years. I did an ROI calculation with one client that showed a 2.87-years return on a $30 million-dollar project. We went through my algorithm and calculations and actually got it down to less than a year. But it's such a big step for them that they’re not going to bite off the entire piece all at once. They're probably going to do it in three or four stages.

SCB: I would think that management today would be highly incentivized to adopt automation, especially in the age of Amazon.

Kooistra: There are many factors to consider, and companies have to be very serious about it, especially because of the competitive nature of business today. They’re also dealing with a scarcity of labor in the warehouse.

SCB: How much automation technology out there today is off-the-shelf and generic, as opposed to what must be customized to the needs of each individual user?

Kooistra: I firmly believe that every client is different in some way with regards to how they operate their business, and 100 percent of the applications need to be customized. We ask, How flexible and scalable can the solution be? Say there’s a client with 15 sites across America. Doing the first one is always going to involve the most difficulties, to make sure that you get the solution down pat. But after you've done it once, to replicate it at the other 14 sites is going to be a lot easier.

SCB: What’s the most interesting and exciting innovation that you see coming down the pike in the next year and beyond?

Kooistra: I get excited looking at automated guided vehicles and robots, and what that’s going to do to sortation and conveyance. The flexibility of robots and AGVs, where you don't have the rigidity of sortation and conveyance — that, to me, is the future.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Technology All Warehouse Services Robotics Order Fulfillment Warehouse Management Systems
KEYWORDS All Warehouse Services Automation & Robotics order fulfillment Warehouse Management Systems
  • Related Articles

    Q&A | Where Is Automation in the Warehouse Heading?

  • Related Directories

    SnapFulfil

SupplyChainBrain

Amtrak Passengers Stranded for 29 Hours Feared They Had Been Kidnapped

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • GSCMS-Promo.png

    Watch: Introducing the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit

    Education & Professional Development
  • A COMPLEX SERIES OF ROADWAYS AND RAMPS, SEEN FROM HIGH ABOVE, IS PARTLY SHROUDED BY CLOUD

    Supply Chain Visibility Isn’t Just a Catchphrase; It’s an Imperative

    Logistics
  • A MAN IN A SUIT SITS LEANING OVER THE BACK OF A CHAIR IN A WOOD-PANELLED ROOM FULL OF LARGE PHOTOS OF OTHER MEN IN SUITS

    UPS Faces Rising Labor Costs, Strike Risk in Upcoming Union Fight

    Last Mile Delivery

Digital Edition

Scb q1 2023 cover

2023 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide: Packing for a Difficult Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing