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The 5 Goals Warehouses Should Have This Year

Technology advancements are constantly changing the way supply chains flow. From barcoding innovations to novel locationing systems, new solutions empower leading distribution centers to elevate service quality and set a new standard for order fulfillment. With 87% of warehouses planning to expand the size of their warehouse by 2024, warehouse decision-makers should look for ways to optimize warehouse space and implement new technologies this year to keep up with trends. Facing new demands for faster and more accurate service, warehouses are encouraged to set adaptable goals to address evolving demands and incorporate innovative technologies. Here are some goals to strive for to meet new challenges this year:

 

  1. Track assets to reduce search times and improve visibility – Warehouses have a lot of assets moving throughout the facility, which can be challenging to control if you don’t know exactly where assets are. With an asset tracking system in place in your warehouse, you can easily find the exact location of anything, drastically reducing search times. Add tracking tags or sensors to any warehouse areas that you want to track. Tracking your assets improves warehouse visibility and helps maximize space usage.
  2. Automate manual processes for less touchpoints – Eliminate manual scanning in warehouse and logistics by automating manual processes like barcoding using technology like RFID and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). Manual scanning forces workers to identify an asset by finding its serial number or material ID, which can cause more downtime and less productivity. RFID and AMRs work to automate repetitive tasks and secure 99.99% visibility.
  3. Optimize transportation routes – Consider the importance of worker and forklift movement around the warehouse. When forklifts and workers flow properly throughout the warehouse facility, you spend less time transporting goods and improve productivity. Additionally, give workers more mobility on their routes around the warehouse with mobile power carts that help them maintain a full day of productivity.
  4. Create efficient employee workloads with clear task management  – When warehouses automate manual processes, it creates optimized employee workloads and improves efficiency. RFID and robotics can reduce the amount of manual work and provide warehouse managers with data to make better decisions, which drastically reduces employee stress.
  5. Use new data to prevent inventory and storage errors – Easy data access from RFID and robotics can help reduce errors during the warehouse process. Reduce the times the wrong items enter an assembly line or are placed for transportation and the times when you miss items in inventory. Streamlined data capture gives workers expanded data access so warehouses account for every item and improve inventory visibility.

 

When warehouses achieve these goals and optimize these areas, it drastically improves productivity and efficiency. Efficient asset tracking, automated manual processes, efficient employee workloads, and easy data access help distributors build a smart warehouse that evolves with demands. Get your journey started today to prepare for this year.

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3 Ways to Lower Food Distribution Costs with Intelligent Product Identification

It is estimated that 40% of the entire US food supply is wasted every year due to visibility breakdowns in the storage and transportation process. Missed temperature changes, idle wait times, and overlooked expiration dates can all jeopardize product integrity while slipping under the radar, resulting in mass product recalls and contributing to approximately $161 billion lost in food waste annually. Between fluctuating shortages and increasing last-mile costs, distribution centers have no money -or time- to spend on excessive food waste.

 

That’s where Intelligent Labels Come In

 

As stated so many times before: Manual data entry leaves room for error. Despite this, many businesses still employ pen-and-paper systems due to its simplicity and low cost. On the other hand, the cost of recurrent recalls and damaged brand identity greatly outweigh the savings. To mitigate errors while lowering costs, intelligent labeling systems employing automated data capture and digitized reporting have been shown to increase accuracy up to 99.99%. At its core, a proper labeling system should include…

  • A printer that matches your throughput volume
  • A label that matches application and storage requirements
  • A scanner capable of reading your barcodes regardless of size and location

 

Once these factors are in place, companies can start taking a look at different label types to create a tailored solution. Regardless of which labels are selected, your identification system should aim at…

 

  1. Reducing errors before items progress through your facility – By tagging inventory straight at the receiving dock with long-lasting labels, you prevent early mis-identification and improper storage. Zebra’s Certified Consumables assist with this by leveraging strong adhesives tailored for the application and storage environment. RFID tags take this a step farther by enabling teams to track multiple identifiers with one tag, providing real-time verification through your mobile device.
  2. Accelerated identification with less wait time – Needless to say, automatic data capture is much quicker than manual logging; however, intelligent labels like Zebra’s freeze indicator labels provide at-a-glance temperature monitoring. Moreover, pairing intelligent labels with mobility solutions specifically built for cold chain operations like Zebra’s MC9300 help reduce costs and cycle times to increase sales and sustain easier data sharing even within the cold storage environment.
  3. Simplifies team communication by making track and trace easier – A smoother flow of information and less downtime play a critical role in simplifying track and trace operations. Intelligent labeling solutions streamline track and trace and equip your workers with important data they can use to respond to demands and each other faster. Furthermore, because data is stored digitally, audits become easier to perform, and data can be retrieved from anywhere in the facility between your secured devices.

 

While intelligent labeling sets a strong foundation for maximized visibility, it is only one part of the equation when it comes to lowering operating costs. Before selecting a label match, experts recommend meeting up with a labeling specialist to evaluate your environments and customize a solution that grows alongside your business. In addition to finding your best match, a proper workflow evaluation can also uncover more optimization areas hiding within your operation, giving you the upper hand to overcome challenges before they affect productivity.

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4 Realistic Expectations to Have from Today’s Modern Supply Chains

The last two years have drastically altered supply chain efficiency. The effects of nationwide lockdowns, global shortages, and international tensions have deepened a shared reliance on automated systems to stay ahead of mounting consumer demands and fulfillment challenges. However, amid recurrent and new obstacles, many businesses have shared positive workplace changes such as:

  • Improved worker conditions – Automated systems and enterprise robotics alleviate the stress placed on human workers while also requiring less muscle effort to meet demands.
  • Implemented easy technology – To truly be considered successful, a modernization solution should value user-friendliness to diminish training expenses.
  • Increased wages and bonuses – Around 45% of workers noted an increase in wages as warehouses and distribution centers sought to retain long-term employees.

Changes such as these can help foster more seamless workflows and satisfied employees. As new technologies are developed and integrated into the fast-moving supply chain, it is imperative to maintain realistic yet optimistic goals in the warehouse to correctly track KPIs overtime. Zebra’s newest 2027 Warehouse Vision Study showcases four of the most common goals today’s warehouse managers:

  1. Improving individual worker productivity – It has been estimated that nearly a quarter of warehouse operations were managed through paper-based systems. This means that workers had to spend a bulk of time updating reports, verifying stock counts, and imputing updates manually at the risk of entering the wrong data.
  2. Streamlining workflows in a standardized fashion – As fulfillment tasks became more complex with same-day shipping, higher return rates, and direct-to-customer transactions, businesses needed a way to ensure workflows were accurately tracked from door to dock. Consequently, 41% of companies began to optimize mobility in 2022 to ensure new and permanent workers stay organized through one trackable workflow managed through their handheld device.
  3. Maximizing asset visibility – From mobile devices to centralized printing stations, your warehouse assets play an intricate role in sustaining productivity across the warehouse. Consequently, maintaining device availability through real-time asset tracking systems has become a goal of nearly 70% of warehouses worldwide. Clear operational visibility further empowers warehouses to prepare for challenging demands since decision-makers have a better picture of the resources available to them at a moment’s notice.
  4. Collecting and leveraging data via intelligent automation – The prevalence of sudden changes has created a need for multiple data capturing systems to ensure nothing is ever missed. Therefore, systems featuring technologies like autonomous robots, fixed industrial scanners, and even RFID portals have proven beneficial to drive automated decision making based on real-time insights. This means warehouses can ensure the correct orders and reaching the correct customers, stock quantities are current, and workers receive the assistance they need when and where they need it.

How to make sure these goals are met

E-commerce transactions continues to be one of the largest forces behind modernization, impacting nine out of 10 warehouses by increasing shipping volume. To meet expectations within a dynamic omnichannel ecosystem, experts recommend…

  • Assessing warehouse space to target challenges in the RFID implementation process such as high ceilings, dense walls, etc.
  • Supporting migration plans to adaptable operating systems like Android to make sure new updates and patches are accommodated into current workflows
  • Consolidating workflows into wearable devices to alleviate weight and pressures from your workers while cutting back on management plans for multiple devices.

Navigating through several modernization challenges becomes simpler with a team at your side. To get a closer look into how supply challenges are continuing to affect modernizing warehouses, reach out to our modernization specialists and approach optimization with a confident yet adaptable strategy.

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Avalon Integration and Mobiworks Can Help With Your Assets in the Cloud

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How much time and money are wasted searching for products, parts, tools, shipping containers, and even people? Add it up and then estimate how that time could instead contribute to productivity and profitability. No matter what you’re missing, Avalon Integration has found a solution. Find your assets in the cloud.

Let the Cloud Manage the Workflow
TC25 Cloud Manage Workflow with the help of MobiWorks

We’ve spent years working with warehouse operations, manufacturers, and distribution centers that didn’t realize how much these lost assets were costing them. In some cases, they paid to replace what they couldn’t find. More often, they paid for the labor to hunt them down.

One person realizes something is missing. He or she then asks around, disrupting other people’s workflow. Next thing you know, several workers have joined the hunt. The more valuable the asset, the larger the search group.

But remember, it’s not just time spent on the search. While your crew is on safari, the production line could be waiting, a customer’s shipment or service is delayed, a route is less efficient because it doesn’t have a full load, and so on.

When we discovered MobiWork software, our team realized we had the tools to cut out the waste here. We combined MobiWork for Asset Management with the enterprise-class rugged technology from Zebra. The result is the MWS Asset Management Solution Platform, a cloud-based approach to achieving real-time visibility of your enterprise assets.

This platform isn’t just for finding the misplaced assets. The solution enables total control over the use of them, no matter where you are. Connect to your dashboard from the cloud and here’s what you can do:

  • Proactively identify any tools or equipment that are approaching a maintenance deadline and schedule the service, avoiding downtime from responding too late.
  • Optimize routes to schedule, dispatch, and re-route with more efficiency, saving on fuel and labor costs.
  • Track your rental assets to make sure they’re maximizing usage and not sitting somewhere, draining profits.
  • Generate invoices and process payments in the field, reducing the payment cycle time.
  • Monitor labor to rein in job costs and increase workforce productivity
  • Easily generate work orders that comply with the approved format and terms.
  • Instantly update mobile inventory on vehicles as service techs use and sell parts on their routes.
  • Track shipments from origin to destination.
  • Produce up-to-date reports whenever and wherever you need them.

Pair the Right Software and Mobile Computer on a Cloud-based Platform

TC25 Courier Scanning a barcode with the help of Mobiworks

Pair the software with the right mobile computer for the job. A consumer-grade handheld won’t work in these environments. The average life of one of those tablets or smartphones is about six months. Compare that to three or more years with a purpose-built mobile computer, and you can probably see that the total cost of ownership is lower with the rugged version—as well as more secure.

The Zebra TC25 touch computer is the right choice for Avalon Integrations MWS Asset Management Solution Platform. Although it resembles a consumer smartphone, this handheld computer is much tougher. Drop it onto a concrete floor from six feet and you don’t have to worry about a cracked screen, or worse. You can even dowse it with water, leave it bumping around in a service vehicle, and the TC25 keeps working.

The TC25 also comes pre-loaded with Mobility Extensions (Mx), a fortified Android with government-grade AES-256 data encryption. As a purpose-built mobile computer, it is designed for MDM. Your IT team can remotely locate, configure, install upgrades, and lock down the device—a definite plus for improving productivity. The TC25 features two cameras (one for video calling and a high-res for documentation) and a powerful scanning engine, so it delivers the power of a 1D/2D barcode scanner/reader.

Start Your Free Trial with MobiWork and Avalon Integration Today!

The search is over—both for assets and the right solution. Avalon Integration wants to give you a closer look so you can see first-hand how the MWS Asset Management Solution Platform benefits your operational efficiency. With just one monthly fee (no licensing cost), you also reduce your capital expense. And if you have a mobile computer to trade-in toward the purchase of a Zebra, you’ll get cash back, even if your trade-in is from a different manufacturer.

MobiWork and Avalon Integration Logos

Try it for yourself. Click here for a free trial and contact Avalon Integration to learn more about the ROI of the total asset management solution.

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Still Hunting for Lost Assets? It’s Time for a Better Tracking Solution.

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Whether you run one facility or multiples, you have high-value assets, and you probably don’t know where they all are. From misplaced inventory to equipment that has just disappeared, finding or replacing it all is costing you in time and money. Are you still hunting for lost assets because you haven’t found a better way? It’s time for a better tracking solution. Avalon Integration has developed a mobile asset management platform to end the wasteful game of hide-and-seek.

MWS Asset Management with MobiWork
MobiWork Collaboration With Avalon Integration for MWS Asset Management

After guiding so many businesses away from the time-intensive and error-ridden manual approach to asset tracking, we sought out partners with the expertise to help us come up with a better approach—one that would deliver valuable results along with rapid ROI.

The MWS Asset Management Solution Platform combines MobiWork’s software and Zebra’s rugged mobile devices with Avalon Integration’s experience in serving the technology needs of warehouses, manufacturers, and distribution centers for more than 20 years.

MobiWork developed an asset management software program that gives you real-time visibility of your assets—products, parts, and people! This component of the MWS Asset Management Solution Platform streamlines a broad range of tasks:

  • Locate assets
  • Get asset information, including a maintenance schedule
  • Track asset usage
  • Schedule repairs
  • Submit work orders
  • Create invoices and process payment
  • Dispatch and reroute service techs
  • Access maps with turn-by-turn navigation to optimize routes
  • Update mobile inventory with parts usage and sales
  • Track shipments from origin to destination
  • Generate reports

MWS Asset Management Made Easy with the Zebra TC25

We knew that anything less than purpose-built mobile computers would limit the success of the solution. So, we chose the Zebra TC25 touch computer, a rugged handheld computer, for the hardware that makes the data easily accessible. The TC25 looks and feels like a smartphone—familiarity that appeals to workers—but with enterprise-class functionality, including Android that’s fortified for stronger security, greater data capture, more robust connectivity, and better device and app management. Plus, the unmatched ruggedness of Zebra’s design, engineering, and quality means a lower total cost of ownership because you avoid the repair and replacement costs that come with choosing a mobile computer that can’t handle the tough stuff.

You might be hesitating about investing in a new asset management solution. Think about what your delay is costing you. How much are you paying for downtime, errors, and delays? What would more efficient routing do for your delivery schedules—to say nothing of customer satisfaction? Would it be useful to know how much your high-value assets are utilized from day to day? Wouldn’t that help to identify revenue and productivity opportunities?

Start Your Free Trial with MobiWork Today!

Avalon MobiWork Both Logos

Avalon Integration offers MobiWork for one monthly fee. There’s no licensing required! And if you have outdated mobile devices, you can upgrade now to Zebra and get cashback for your trade-in—even if it’s not a Zebra. It doesn’t get more affordable to make a smart move right now.

Start with a free trial to see how our MWS Asset Management Solution works for you.

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Passive or active RFID: Which tagging do you need?

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Radiofrequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic technology to transmit information from an encoded tag to an antenna and then an RFID reader. With RFID, you don’t need a line of sight to read a barcode, so this technology presents a valuable asset tracking solution. But once you choose this automated data collection method, you need to decide between the options of passive and active RFID tags. Which tagging do you need? Here’s some insight to help you pick the right RFID tags for your applications.

RFID Tag Differences

Active and Passive Tag Differences

Active RFID tags have an internal battery that “pushes” the signal to an antenna within its read zone.

Passive RFID tags have no battery or internal power source. They are activated by the electromagnetic energy that is transmitted from a reader to an antenna, which signals the passive tag.

Here are the factors you should consider when deciding between passive or active.

Radiofrequency and the read zone

RFID - Radio Frequency and Read Zone

Active tags transmit across a longer read range than a passive tag, which is designed for short-range reading. An active tag could be read from hundreds of feet away, while a passive tag might only send a signal across a distance of 20 to 30 feet.

The frequency band contributes to the read range, with ultra-high-frequency (UHF) providing the longest distance. A lower frequency—defined as low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF), in comparison—transmits more slowly but is also less susceptible to radio wave interference, which can be caused by metals and liquids.

Lifespan

RFID - Lifespan

The battery embedded in an active tag has a lifespan. Depending on how often the tag transmits data, the battery can last five to ten years. Passive tags have no battery, so there is no such shelf life to the tag.

Cost

Active RFID tags are more expensive than passive tags, because of the battery inactive tags.

Uses

RFID - Uses

Passive tags are commonly used for tracking livestock, materials, and products along with a supply chain. Inbound and outbound shipments can use passive RFID because of the short-range requirement for reading the barcodes.

Active tags are a good choice for access control, equipment monitoring (e.g., status), and logistics. The longer read range is also a preferable option for hospitals and industries that need to track costly equipment throughout the facility.

To make sure you’re getting the best value from your thermal printing supplies, schedule a free assessment with Avalon Integration. We can determine opportunities for improved productivity, efficiency, and cost savings.

Avalon Integration has been working with RFID technology for many years and across a wide range of industries and use cases. As a Zebra partner, Avalon Integration has a powerful resource for the most innovative RFID technology. Talk to us to determine the right RFID solution for your needs.

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Avalon Integration and MobiWork Announce Collaboration on MWS Asset Management

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Why Avalon and MobiWork Collaboration?

MobiWork and Avalon Integration will transform your entire organization and help you unleash your full potential!

Register for Your Free MobiWork Trial Here!

MobiWork Collaboration Collage

Grow Your Business

MobiWork dramatically increases productivity, reduces costs, and provides real-time information exchange and visibility into every aspect of your business.

Empower Your Team

MobiWork simplifies the day to day life of every single member of your organization allowing them to perform at their best from anywhere, at any time, and on any device.

The MobiWork Collaboration is Built For Your Business

Every business is unique, MobiWork can be easily configured to fit your business, no matter how specific your requirements and industry.

Check Out What MobiWork Offers: mobiwork.com

Learn More About the Collaboration here!

Talk to Us at Avalon Integration today!

MWS Asset Management
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