Jason Griswold, automation application manager with Daifuku, addresses the wish list for today's warehouse: efficiency, labor productivity, scalability and flexibility. 

Every warehouse is striving to become more efficient, but each one differs in its mix of products and methods of handling goods within the facility. As a result, there’s no one solution that fits all needs, Griswold says. What warehouses and prospective technology vendors must do is take a close look at each individual operation, to identify how to proceed.

The first step toward the assessment is visiting the facility and undertaking an extensive walk-through, to gain a full understanding of its data, operations and pain points. The exercise also must extend beyond the warehouse walls, taking into account “what’s happening upstream and downstream,” Griswold says.

Labor productivity is a common target for improvement — but again, the path forward will depend on which part of the operation is in greatest need. The biggest source of pain and inefficiency might be the receiving dock, putaway, picking or outbound shipping. Each comes with its unique set of problems, and accompanying solutions. Managers must also determine how to approach the initiative in a manner that ensures worker safety, while eliminating redundancies and outdated ways of doing things.

Meeting with the workers on the floor is especially critical, Griswold says. All the data and upfront intelligence about a facility “means nothing if you can’t actually see the operation.” Often assessors will learn that the actual processes in place differ markedly from what they were led to believe, based on initial data and reports. “Sometimes the story’s different,” he says.

When implementing automation, it’s important to take into account expectations of future growth, as well as the ups and downs of seasonality. The key lies in “building trust, and laying out a vision with them to allow them to grow, and help them see the future and where they can get to,” Griswold says.