Automated Inventory Fulfillment = A More Productive Warehouse

September 17th 2024 14:50:00 PM

Efficient management is imperative to anyone running a warehouse, manufacturing, distribution, or logistics/supply chain business. You’re constantly being charged with excelling in three distinct areas of the same operation:

1. Serving your customer base the way they expect
2. Keeping costs such as labor, utilities, and wasted energy to a minimum
3. Driving strong profitability

Components such as warehouse organization, inventory management, order picking, KPI tracking, shipping & logistics planning and execution, and staff management must successfully co-exist. Like spokes in a well-oiled wheel, coordination between all is critical to keep up with the daily challenges in this fast-paced industry….and realize the profit margins you’re looking for.  The objective is to incorporate all these facets of the business, simplify and automate complex processes as much as possible, boost efficiency and lower fixed costs — all while keeping your standards of quality and accuracy undiminished.

Let’s examine how full-service inventory innovator WithoutWire Inventory Platform uses its revolutionary warehouse inventory fulfillment to benefit manufacturing and supply chain businesses throughout North America.

Automating and Enhancing Procurement & Inventory Fulfillment

For nearly 25 years, WithoutWire has resided at the forefront of inventory tracking automation solutions. One of its most progressive creations is a ‘Just In Time’ minimum/maximum Enhanced Inventory Replenishment solution for the on-site, remote site, and field service warehouse verticals. This ‘Just In Time’ solution features automation that can be controlled 24/7 on a mobile device, so precise inventory management can be done in real-time, from any location. The features and benefits that users realize from WithoutWire’s solution allow warehouse operators to easily assess and control their entire product inventory — enabling them to live the company’s motto of ‘WithoutWire — Without Worry.’

Set It and Forget It

WithoutWire’s ‘Just In Time’ Enhanced Inventory Replenishment solution lets you seamlessly plan and stock your inventory supply chain over the warehouse lifecycle from Available-to-Promise (ATP), so your team can enhance its procurement efforts and optimize manufacturing quality and production yields. WithoutWire’s in-app functionality allows the plant manager to:

• Instantly receive and track new incoming inventory
• Plan, predict and audit inventory consumption and manage min/max capacities
• Use real-time interface insights into current stock, inbound, demand, and necessary inventory replenishments
• Minimize multiple trips by lab/field technicians to complete experiments and tests
• Keep your manufacturing lines running through the entire shift — without halts in production

Saving You the Hassle of Over-Stocks, Expirations

Trying to manually manage inventory of large warehouses (each containing hundreds if not thousands of SKUs) is undoubtedly a recipe for struggle. No matter how big your operational team, no staff can alleviate all the ways the multitude of variables in your warehouse inventory can go haywire — especially if they occur at the same time. WithoutWire’s Enhanced Inventory Replenishment system gives you the automation that eliminates needless over-stocks — and the resultant need for additional storage space (not to mention stock rotation errors). WithoutWire’s solution also features a replenishment pick logic that adheres to a first expiring-first out (FEFO) stock rotation of raw materials, meaning your customers will always have the newest inventory supply…..and you’ll have minimal waste in terms of expired perishable product and unnecessary purchases.

Using WithoutWire’s innovation, your warehouse’s decision-maker can reconcile your inventory replenishment needs as compared to your planned replenishment logic, see what modifications need to be made based on actuals, approve the appropriate warehouse picks with the most efficient pick path, and be directed to the oldest inventory in stock. Upon completion, the decision-maker can stage the wave order directly from the WithoutWire mobile app to the appropriate production lines — at the exact time the lines are ready for receipt and production. Once you’ve mastered the planned-to-actual replenishment, to pick, to path, to production cycle, your warehouse can repeat the logic for an optimal, efficient warehouse operation.

Procurement and Purchase Order Benefits

One of the advantages of WithoutWire’s automated inventory management lies in your Procurement efforts. The Inventory Replenishment product gives the warehouse supervisor options to buy, request transfer or manufacture/build to meet inventory requirements — so you ‘hit your mark’ more consistently. Purchase Orders are created automatically using the platform, with options for approval workflows, and the mobile app interface allows for manufacturing job creation and execution with the touch of a button.

What Does This Mean for You?

Dozens of companies in the animal feed, food & beverage, oil & chemical and retail warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, supply chain and logistics verticals currently use WithoutWire’s Inventory Replenishment solution; even medical supply companies leverage it at fulfillment hubs for multiple hospitals and labs, taking advantage of automated min/max cross-site replenishment.

What does the ‘Just In Time’ benefit mean for your business? It means:

• Your production staff is free to focus on the activity you’re paying them to do, without having to fret about things beyond their control
• Your lab/field technicians don’t have to worry about planning your supply chain and stocking shelves, and can focus on their job of testing, experimenting and maintaining equipment
• Your supply chain staff is free to focus only on inventory exceptions, overrides or other changes when they arise

‘Set it and forget it’ is more than just a WithoutWire mantra; once you put their plan to work on your site, you’ll have the confidence knowing that excessive labor, waste and redundant/non-billable tasks are just a memory — and the impact on your operation’s efficiency and production unit costs will show in your bottom line. And as an added bonus, the Inventory Replenishment solution’s benefits extend beyond the four walls of the warehouse, as optimal fulfillment can also be managed on service trucks out in the field.

If you’re a warehouse procurement or production manager, site supervisor or manager, or in charge of operations for a manufacturer, distributor, logistics or supply chain company, it’s time to talk with us to see how we can help. Contact us online or call (330) 645-9959 today to make an appointment with a WithoutWire Solutions Expert to learn more, and take the first step toward a more streamlined and efficient warehouse inventory operation!

WithoutWire Inventory Sciences has recently been acquired by Scanco Software. As a result, you will start seeing Scanco emails and logos. Please rest assured that our commitment to supporting you remains unchanged.