仓库整合[优势+自动化解决方案以简化仓库运作]

Benefits of Warehouse Consolidation

From minimising transportation costs to optimising warehouse space, here are the key benefits of warehouse consolidation:

1. Reduce Transportation Costs

According to the 30th Annual State of Logistics Report by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, businesses in the United States spent an estimated $1.64 trillion on transportation and logistics services in 2018 alone — a significant leap of 11.4% from 2017.

The increase in transportation services was driven by several factors, including labor shortages regarding truck drivers and supply chain configurations to accommodate the uptick in eCommerce demands.

Instead of transporting multiple, individual deliveries to the same destination, inventory consolidation allows you to group your shipments into a single bundled truckload, lowering your transportation costs.

2. Lower Fuel Emissions

A recent study found that among total eCommerce greenhouse gas emissions, 13% stemmed from transport in 2020, ranking No.3 on the list.

Since individual shipments from various suppliers are loaded into one truck during inventory consolidation, less trucks are used for shipment transportation, leading to reduced fuel emissions.

3. Minimise Shipping Costs

A recent study found that the top reason customers abandoned their shopping cart in 2020 was expensive shipping fees.

In addition to a product’s content value, package weight and dimensions, the shipping point and origin play a vital role in calculating shipping costs.

Inventory consolidation enables you to cut down on transportation costs by sharing truckloads with other suppliers, allowing you to offer more affordable shipping options to your customers.

4. Increase Customer Satisfaction

Inventory consolidation gives you more wiggle room where shipping costs are concerned. Accommodating customer demand for affordable shipping increases customer satisfaction across the board.

5. Save Warehouse Space

When you avail warehouse consolidation services from a 3PL provider, you can save space in your own facility, through the need to store less inventory.

But what if you want all of your inventory stored under one centralised warehouse? This is where automation comes in handy.

At Modula, we take the benefit of space optimisation to the next level, by reorganise your warehouse space through our vertical and horizontal solutions.

Our high-density storage solutions occupy a minimal footprint, utilising every square meter of your warehouse’s available floor space. Thousands of different SKUs can be stored, picked, packed, and shipped with a high level of efficiency, optimised labor usage and reduced operational costs.

6. Increase Employee Productivity

Another benefit of warehouse consolidation is increased employee productivity. How so?

A study by the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found that clutter can affect a person’s ability to concentrate and process information.

In another study by the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers found that cluttered areas can affect the brain’s performance and responsiveness.

Your employees are more vulnerable to making human errors when working in disorganised or cluttered spaces. Inventory consolidation allows you to declutter, and in turn, boost productivity.

Modula Automated Solutions for Consolidation Warehouse

At Modula, our intelligent warehouse management solutions and automated storage and retrieval systems take your warehouse operations to a new level.

Our warehouse management systems are built to operate your warehouse with automated storage equipment, to replace traditional storage and retrieval methods like manual picking and shelving.

Typically, a consolidation warehouse consists of massive stock-keeping units (SKUs) and unique code that is assigned to every product.

A good warehouse management system helps you monitoring your inventory in real time, so your warehouse operators can quickly and accurately pick and refill warehouse inventory.

1. Warehouse Management Systems

Modula warehouse management solutions helps customer to increase productivity, improve efficiency and accuracy.

Modula warehouse management solutions allows you to:

1. Access inventory visibility, down to specific tray and item.
2. Real time order management and execution.
3. Pick and replenish your inventory with high accuracy and efficiency.
4. Boost accuracy and productivity.
5. Operate in batch and multi-order modes without compromising productivity and quality for massive orders.
6. Reinforce better control over inventory management, materials handling.
7. Prevent unauthorised access, guarantee the safety of stock.
8. Manually import/export your warehouse management system data to your customer’s ERP or DMS system

2. Modula Vertical Lift Modules

In addition to warehouse management solutions, our most advanced automated storage and retrieval systems can also help you to save space up to 90% in your warehouse.

Choose from three automated warehouse solutions:

Modula Lift, our first and bestselling vertical lift modules in the past 37 years, it is the ideal storage solution for products, components and spare parts for almost every environment and industry.

Modula Slim only need about 3 square meters, is the most compact VLM in the market, ideal storage solution for limited floor space environment. Utilising the same advanced storage technology as the Modula Lift, it boosts inventory management, productivity and accuracy in office, production, warehouse, anywhere when space is at a premium.

Thanks to our vertical lift modules, stock density is also optimised.

Our height detection system measures the height of each tray as it goes for stocking. WMS determines the storage location and density in real time, maximising space within the unit. Trays can be configured with separators for every type or size of items.

Our vertical warehouse solution allows you to:

1. Save up to 90% of floor space by using a much smaller footprint, taking advantage of available ceiling height.
2. Boost inventory management with real time picking operations monitoring. (Regarding this point, check out our blog about warehouse inventory management)
3. Keep your goods safe by securing them in an enclosed system with authorised access.
4. Increase picking speeds to at least 300 -500 order lines per hour or more.
5. Receive products automatically with the user-friendly Copilot console.
6. Reduce employee and operational costs.
7. Could integrate with lift equipment to handle heavy loads without strain.
8. Improve safety for employees by avoiding climb high and low to get goods.

3. Modula Horizontal Carousels

Have limited ceiling height? Our Modula Horizontal Carousels are the solution you’re looking for.

Our horizontal carousels allow you to:

1. Utilise picking rates of up to 550 lines per hour for each warehouse employee
2. House more goods with high-density and compact storage areas
3. Integrate with Modula Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) to increase productivity and accuracy
4. Generate 99% picking accuracy with our Put to Light Systems and barcode readers
5. Retrieve items quickly and easily with Modula’s digital Copilot feature
6. Monitor picking operations in real-time through automation
7. Offer the most ideal working environment by protecting employees against hazards, minimising physical strain, enabling fast machine stoppage and removing unessential travel around the warehouse

4. Modula Warehouse Order Picking Solutions

Easy to install, our picking solutions help with you to consolidate your warehouse regarding batch- and multi-orders.

Our Modula Warehouse Order Picking Solutions include:

1. Modula Put to Light to guide your warehouse employees to handle multiple orders in a convenient way.
2. Mobile Picking Station for processing large quantity orders in short time.
3. Modula Picking Cart for transporting inventory to different locations within your warehouse.
4. Modula Mobile Picking App to manage manual picking operations through your tablet or smartphone remotely.

Wrapping Up on Warehouse Consolidation

Managing multiple warehouses, including shipping and inventory, can be costly and labor-intensive.

Instead of paying expensive external warehouse resource or managing employees in different locations and beyond, warehouse consolidation is a better solution for keeping your budget under control, without sacrificing the efficiency of your warehouse operations.

Modula automated warehouse solutions are built to safely store and organise your warehouse while providing you with complete visibility of your inventory, whether in one warehouse location or more.