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What will your Operations Commit to in 2021

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Efficient innovation has always been part of Avalon’s commitment to our clients. After navigating through triumphs and tribulations alongside a multitude of resilient teams, that goal hasn’t changed. That’s why we’re starting the year with a dedication to continue empowering businesses with sustainable solutions that drive down costs, maximize productivity, and most importantly, protect our environment. Now more than ever, business decisions have the capability of impacting entire communities; therefore, partnering with leading manufacturers like Zebra Technologies, Avalon’s experts are diving into a series of sustainable efforts that fit the modern warehouse with:

  • Cost-effective automation that reduces labor waste
  • Energy-efficient mobile devices that last throughout your longest shifts
  • Adaptable mobile computing to eliminate unnecessary deployment of supporting devices
  • Long-lasting consumables to reduce reprints 
  • Greater warehouse visibility and traceability backed by real-time locationing solutions

Building the Sustainable Supply Chain

Building the Sustainable Supply Chain

Over 80% of a business’s environmental impact comes from its supply chain

The push for sustainability may have stemmed from increased consumer demand for better traceability. However, studies suggest that today’s businesses are gravitating towards sustainable practices to lower operational costs and improve revenue performance. Since over 80% of a business’s environmental impact comes from its supply chain, digitized transparency has become the cornerstone in achieving a sustainable supply chain. Below are a few ways we’ve seen transparency result in sustainable operations throughout the whole supply chain:

  • In production and manufacturing – In 2018, the EPA estimated that manufacturing and production companies disposed of 292.4million tons of wasted material, including scraps, yard trimming, foods, etc. To make sure operations only use the appropriate amount of materials, visibility services, such as MotionWorks, have been implemented for just-in-time delivery of goods, preventing an excess of materials (and money) from being disposed of in landfills. 
  • In warehousing and distribution – In 2020, the average warehouse’ square foot space cost $7.18, almost a dollar increase from 2017. Wasteful storage costs money to run and can result in spoiled and misplaced inventory, which must later be thrown out as it becomes unsellable. Proper inventory management built with error-free automated data capture and long-lasting consumables can establish reliable identification parameters from receiving to shipping, preventing loss and shrinkage.
  • In transportation and logistics – Across the country, fuel prices continue to fluctuate. By integrating visibility solutions like RFID locationing and flexible network connectivity, businesses can track field teams to optimize travel routes for better fuel usage. Devices like Zebra’s TC7X touch computers empower field teams with dependable real-time connectivity for route changes and schedule updates to adjust workflows with minimal costly interruptions.
  • In retail and grocery – In addition to preserving the environment, sustainable retail operations result in higher profitability as consumers are willing to pay up to 20% for ethically-sound products. Traceability is key here since several regulation agencies work together to verify eco-friendly claims. Paperless data processing via automated data entry and computing can help eliminate errors and facilitate data sharing for seamless audits and updates.

Whether your operations are at the beginning of the end of the supply chain, every team can benefit from sustainable optimization. To see how you can add sustainability into your enterprise goals for the year, reach out to our modernization experts for an in-depth assessment of your workflows and find out where you can substitute inefficiency with dependable and transparent enterprise intelligence.

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It’s time for a Recap: 10 Technologies that Saved Warehousing in 2020

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Last year, when looking ahead to what 2020 would bring, technologies such as RFID tracking, Internet of Things, and Wearable Computers were cited as revolutionary initiatives to redefine the year. Now, standing at the end of a historical year, it’s pretty clear our list was too short. Facing a long string of challenges, dangers, and changes, warehouses have relied on several indispensable technologies, which will most likely continue to secure efficiency within warehouses in the years to come.

Save Warehousing

Avalon Integration have noted the following innovations as crucial warehousing advantages

While this list is by no means exhaustive, the experts at Avalon Integration have noted the following innovations as crucial warehousing advantages in 2020:

  1. Disinfectant-Ready Devices – Since discovering that pathogens can last from hours to days on surfaces, operations utilizing multiple screens and handhelds required rugged devices that could handle abrasion, chemical exposure, and constant wipedowns. Made for tough environments, enterprise-grade devices rose to the challenge by providing undisrupted performance in the midst of recurrent disinfection and sanitation.
  2. Contact Tracing – As businesses began to reopen, many of our clients sought a way to welcome back their teams without risking dangerous exposure. To minimize employee density and effectively track possible contamination, exposure awareness, and contact solutions were deployed across the nation. New contact tracing initiatives can be neatly embedded onto your handheld devices like Zebra’s Motionworks Proximity or added on your employee’s wrist like Accent’s Exposure Awareness bands. Both methods protect employees’ safety as well as their privacy, which brings us to the next point. 
  3. Android’s Dependable Operating System – After Microsoft ended its support for Windows’ Mobile OS, warehouses needed a new operating system to safeguard their data. Android has served as the best option as it provides recurrent security patches, silent OS updates, and an open ecosystem to house current and new applications to better prepare operations for future changes.
  4. Vibrational Social Distancing Alerts – In addition to contact tracing, vibrational alerts have also helped in securing appropriate social distancing within operations.
  5. RFID Tracking – Facing a major influx of online activity, supply chains were overwhelmed with moving inventory and rising demands from the pandemic onset all the way till the holiday peak season. RFID tracking empowers teams to manage inventory levels in real-time while tracking in-motion products, assets, and resources accurately and quickly to fulfill needs with a faster turnaround time.
  6. Fast Long-Range Data Capture – By combining intelligent scanning with long-range data capture, manufacturers like Zebra Technologies were able to equip workers with ergonomic devices that read labels while keeping workers apart. In the retail landscape, modernized data capture can help alleviate checkout lanes by scanning products quickly and at a safe distance.
  7. 2-in-1 Tablets – As the term “office” gained a new meaning, 2-in-1 enterprise tablets like Zebra’s L10 tablets packed ease-of-use, operational visibility, and adaptability for on-the-go workers. Operating as either a tablet or a laptop, devices like the L10 give remote teams more flexibility without hindering data entry and connectivity.  
  8. Handsfree Technologies – Minimizing touchpoints throughout the supply chain became a chief goal amongst warehouses. That’s when hands-free technologies such as heads-up displays, ring scanners, and even Zebra’s newest WT6300 rose to popularity as they helped workers process orders faster with less movement and wasted labor. Studies suggest nearly 70% of warehouses now plan to integrate hands-free and wearable technologies by 2023 to continue expediting tasks and meet new customer demands for speed.  
  9. High-Speed and Long-Range WiFi – In April, over 50% of Americans cited internet connectivity as an essential tool. In warehousing, connectivity secures communication channels, diffuses crucial information, and sustains visibility solutions beyond the loading dock. Zebra’s flexible networking and WorryFree WiFi enables dependable connections to keep the essential business running.
  10. Push-to-Talk and Videoconferencing Features – Lastly, whether it be Zoom or any other service, videoconferencing and push-to-talk capabilities proved to be essential in keeping teams connected and supply chains running smoothly.  Zebra applications such as WorkforceConnect provided wall-to-wall connectivity in both the warehouse, retail, and grocery setting, allowing your teams to work together in real-time despite any distance.

But, we can’t forget the biggest game-changers of the year. As we close in 2020, we would like to give a special thank you to all the essential and healthcare workers as the ones who truly saved this year. From our team to yours, Thank You!

With 2021 less than a few days away, we are eager to see what other devices, solutions, and innovations will continue to reshape our futures. For more information on how to implement any of these solutions into your operations, contact our modernization experts today.

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