In the ever-evolving manufacturing realm, few sectors witness transformations as swift and constant. The perpetual evolution of consumer preferences shapes the landscape, the consistent disruption brought by innovative technologies, fluctuating regulatory frameworks, and the regular transformation of business models. Adapting to these unceasing shifts in the market has become necessary, requiring organizations to embody a heightened sense of agility.

Andrew Kinder, Senior Vice President of Industry Strategy with our partner, Infor, recently described how we find ourselves amidst the most volatile and uncertain period in recent memory. In this environment of compounded uncertainty, agility is not just an ideal trait but an absolute imperative for maintaining competitiveness.

In this article, Infor's Jerry Beaston discusses how 2024 warehouse management trends include the expansion of more strategically located, state-of-the-art warehouses driven by the e-commerce boom.

It also highlights key trends in the global warehouse management market. As of 2022, the market is valued at $3.4 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19% from 2023 to 2030. The e-commerce boom has driven demand for advanced warehouses to meet evolving customer expectations. Key trends for 2024 include the expansion of warehouses, addressing labor shortages through automation, increased adoption of AI and machine learning, integrating immersive tech for employee efficiency, the impact of IoT on real-time data analysis, and the rise of cloud computing in warehouse management software. Companies that embrace these innovations will gain a competitive advantage in 2024. 
                                     

Even when your warehouse operations seem to be running smoothly, there is always room for improvement and a need to stay up to date with innovation. While steps are taken to keep warehouse operations at peak performance, when fulfilment times and levels are jeopardized, it’s still up to you and your team to race to recover, to ensure actions to get back on track are taken correctly so that product can make its way out the door, and time is always working against you.

If your organization previously reviewed and dismissed the value of moving your warehouse management system (WMS) to the cloud, it’s time to reevaluate. Decisions that seemed to make sense last year or even last quarter, likely look very different with new challenges emerging over the past several months. By empowering critical systems like a WMS with cloud capabilities, your organization can scale quickly, maximize productivity, and minimize outages and downtime to prevent bringing the company’s mission-critical operations to its knees.

Warehouse management systems (WMS) are essential for efficiently managing the operations of a warehouse. These systems can help streamline processes, optimise inventory levels, and improve accuracy. However, by ensuring your WMS can exploit hyper-automation, your WMS can be enhanced to deliver even more value while continuing to lower operational costs.

So, what do we mean by hyper-automation?

Hyper-automation can be defined as the combination of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics to automate and optimise tasks that were previously done manually. By leveraging these technologies, businesses can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of their operations while also reducing their labour costs.

One of the main benefits of hyper-automation is that it can significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of warehouse operations. For example, by using robotics to automate the process of picking and packing, businesses can significantly reduce the time it takes to fulfil orders while also reducing the risk of errors. Similarly, by using artificial intelligence to analyse data and make decisions, businesses can make more accurate and informed decisions about inventory management, such as when to reorder stock and how much to order.

Furthermore, hyper-automation can also help businesses optimise their warehouse layouts and processes. By analysing data on the volumetrics, demand and movement of goods within the warehouse, artificial intelligence algorithms can identify inefficiencies and recommend changes to improve the flow of goods taking “slotting” as was and putting it on steroids. This can help businesses reduce the time it takes to move goods through the warehouse and double-handling, which can in turn increase the speed of order fulfilment and reduce the risk of errors.
 

Getting products to market faster, improving design efficiency, and lowering the cost of new product introductions
are strategic goals that nearly all discrete manufacturers strive for. Infor PLM Discrete can help you accomplish these goals by providing you with a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that can seamlessly integrate with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) and computer-aided design (CAD) systems.

You’ll empower your employees, suppliers, and partners to be able to share one version of the truth, no matter where product information is gathered and stored.

Click here to read the brochure.

Process manufacturers like you get the tools to protect brand integrity, dramatically reduce regulatory risk, and bring high-quality, least-cost formulation-based products to market more quickly. Plus, you’ll be better able to meet regulations such as FDA, REACH, and Chemicals Compliance and drive new product innovation.
Infor Optiva is a cutting-edge technology that enhances the Product Lifecycle Management product suite for process manufacturers. This tool is for process manufacturers looking for a competitive edge that will make them more efficient and provide the much-needed advantage for getting their products to market faster and more cost-efficiently. It allows companies to become more agile and responsive to customers, and their product performance will increase.

Click here to read the brochure.