Business Automation and Software Blog

Distribution automation has many benefits that help you reduce costs and errors in your warehouse. One of those benefits is helping you to control and even eliminate shrinkage.

Inventory shrinkage hurts your profitability. Eliminating the mistakes and theft that causes shrinkage is one step toward improving your bottom line. Using barcoding and warehouse management systems, you can get rid of mistakes and reduce shrinkage.

Keeping up on the latest technology in distribution and manufacturing automation is important to remain competitive and continuously improve. You need to evaluate key trends and determine which ones will impact your business and which ones will help you reach your goals. We have taken a look at the hottest technology trends for manufacturers and distributors and how these may influence your future.

When you select a new warehouse management system (WMS), you want to optimize your distribution automation processes. The key is to find a system that will maximize the work it does for you and minimize the work you have to do. You need a solution that will ensure your operations run as smoothly as possible while reducing costs, increasing customer satisfaction and improving revenue.

Choosing the right value-added reseller is an important aspect of a successful WMS selection and implementation. Even though it may be tempting to eliminate the “middle man” in your system purchase, there are numerous reasons why you should work with a local reseller to optimize your distribution automation.

When you have decided to switch or upgrade to a new warehouse management system (WMS) to improve your distribution automation, it is important to follow detailed steps in order to achieve your goals. A WMS has a long expected life span and switching costs can be high, so making the best decision the first time is vital. Even so, there will be a time when the benefits of switching outweigh those costs. We discussed indicators that it is time to switch or upgrade in last week’s blog “Knowing When to Implement a New Warehouse Management System”; now let’s look at the steps you should take to select a new WMS.

How do you know when it is time to upgrade your current warehouse management system (WMS)? Your distribution automation strategy should include a WMS integrated with your enterprise resource planning system (ERP). If you have implemented a WMS like Sage 300 inventory modules in your facilities, you have already attained tremendous benefits. You have realized cost savings, improved customer satisfaction and achieved higher sales. But a time will come when you should upgrade your current system or implement new software.

A mobile ERP is one of the most valuable technology tools for warehouse management to enable distribution automation. As the need for speed increases, mobility provides the person-to-person communications and collaboration required to increase productivity through more efficient processes and better data. Mobile technology is especially effective where business models rely on rapid inventory turns, tight schedules and thin margins. 

Enterprise resource planning or ERP selection of software is no easy task. At the same time, it is essential to find, implement, and use ERP software in order improve automation (including distribution automation and manufacturing automation) and integration. To learn more about the benefits of manufacturing automation, visit here.

Do you ever feel like the challenges facing you as manufacturers are overwhelming? The day-to-day operations in manufacturing can be challenging enough in and of themselves. Add to that the need for improved manufacturing automation and distribution automation, and you are up against quite the task. We can understand why you may feel overwhelmed by all that is demanded and needed to keep manufacturing prospering.

Many manufacturers believe that achieving automation within their manufacturing processes is an impossibility. Or, they view it as an isolated and individual process that should be dealt with in and of itself. The most effective and successful manufacturing automation actually comes from integrating systems to work together instead of attempting to fix what appears to be an isolated issue. This should create beneficial cohesion and integration of various processes and software used across the company. It should also should combine them into one fluid system and process.