Business Automation and Software Blog

While the nearly overnight change to how many employees were working from home in 2020 due to the pandemic was initially nerve-wracking, many businesses are discovering that this new way of working could be a blueprint for the long term. Digital platforms made remote work with teams spread across neighborhoods and counties nearly as easy as when they all sat in the same building. As restrictions ease, many companies will never return to a 100 percent on-site workforce.

No matter what your company manufactures or the industry you’re in, improving warehouse operations efficiency is one of the best ways to boost profits and build your business. This begins with improving the receiving process. Receiving your raw materials and goods is the key to efficiency. Get this critical step wrong, and it can be hard to backtrack recovery. Early errors will be compounded throughout the rest of your process.

There’s no denying the pandemic crisis has changed how organizations do business, from reaching customers to working remotely. Another thing that has changed is the inspiration for digital transformation. Hard data isn’t yet available, but early numbers from an OpsRamp survey suggest digital transformation has rapidly moved to the top of the list for business priorities. COVID-19 has already showcased the value of IT and digital transformations. Organizations would be wise to use this time to accelerate the transition if they haven’t done so already.

As organizations pivoted to working remotely seemingly overnight earlier this year, HR leaders were tasked with responding just as quickly to provide necessary resources and ensure employee safety, wellness, and productivity.

The impact of COVID-19 on the global and financial markets is expected to continue to evolve. Both business and consumer activity have altered, which certainly impacts financial statements. Businesses are chasing high-quality financial information more than ever just to survive. But the accounting implications will be widespread, and likely felt beyond just 2020.

In only a matter of weeks, the global shift from an on-site to a remote workforce has already affected many institutions. Challenges are plentiful, and the unknown future is unsettling. The businesses that will manage best are the ones that have not placed focus on daily operational needs at the expense of investing in digital business.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems are the heartbeat of many organizations, relied on heavily to power the business, manage critical processes like product lifecycle and supply chain, and produce a continuous flow of information. These systems are becoming more and more common, which means the potential to compromise data via cyberattack is greater than ever.

As companies look to improve efficiency, productivity, and innovation in an uncertain landscape, collaboration emerges as the key to improvement. Applying collaboration to analytics only further improves the efficacy.

On March 11, 2020, The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. This has had a major impact on the exchange of goods across the globe. Social distancing has disrupted labor-intensive processes that rely on people working in close contact with each other. Raw materials are in short supply because of closed borders and labor shortages.

Robots aren’t new to supply chains. The first industrial robot was produced in 1956 and could move material approximately 12 feet. Next generation robots were relegated to industrial manufacturing, as they weren’t safe for people to be around while in use. Today, we’ve progressed from giant robotic arms to small robotics that move material across warehouses and even sort a variety of products.