In any given industry, workforce labor is both the biggest expense and the largest asset to a company. From the production floor to the retail storefront, your workforce keeps operations running smoothly to create a seamless supply chain. However, as demands continue to reshape the enterprise landscape, labor may not be appropriately distributed in the workspace. Whether it be in warehousing or retail, ill-distributed labor can lead to:
Higher turnover rates
Missed delivery dates
Overlooked compliance codes and worker safety
Inaccurate order fulfillment
To accommodate changing workforce sizes and evolving customer demands, several warehouses have turned to the popular and versatile modernization solution: RFID technology.
What can RFID Bring to your Operations?
According to Zebra’s 2019 Warehousing Vision Study, RFID technology was expected to grow by 6%, yet post-pandemic demands for both speed and safety have accelerated adoption in warehouses and retailers alike. Next-generation RFID solutions such as Zebra’s MotionWorks can expand operational visibility while increasing workforce productivity by…
Providing real-time operational visibility – Unlike conventional barcodes, RFID technology can be used to track in-motion inventory and assets all in real-time, providing you with a clear view of where your workforce is at any given time.
Complying with worker safety protocols – New worker safety initiatives such as Zebra’s MotionWorks Proximity allows you to trace exposure risks and integrate social distancing protocols into your handheld device by tracking high-density workspaces in real-time.
Tracking labor-intensive workflows – When demand increases suddenly as it normally does for peak holiday seasons, RFID data capture can help track intensive workflows and guide employees through multiple pick paths at once, eliminating superfluous wait times.
See how Zebra’s Savanna does it all and more in our video
Whether you’re tracking assets, inventory, or your workforce, expect dependable visibility when you optimize operations with Avalon. Contact our automation experts today for a free evaluation of your workflow to get started.
https://avalonintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DD8529_Avalon-Featured-Image-March-23rd-1140x599-1.jpg5991140Avalonhttp://avalonintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Avalon-Logo_APeakTechnologiesCompany-01-1030x313.pngAvalon2021-03-19 13:10:242021-09-20 00:47:26Improve workforce productivity with RFID tracking
Given the constant waves of changes gripping supply chains across the nation, Avalon Integration has continuously researched and studied inventory management optimization to help clients best prepare for changes. A lot goes into creating a dependable system, yet without it, businesses run the risk of:
Out-of-stock fees
Overworked employees
Higher production fees
Increased carrying costs and travel times
Negative brand identity
Missed sales
Consequently, we called the experts to help pinpoint some of the crucial components to consider when developing a modernized inventory management system.
What to expect from a modernized inventory management system:
As previously stated, because every business is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all inventory management solution available. However, it’s safe to assume that your system must aim at maximizing visibility, agility, and accuracy to remain competitive in today’s now-economy. While it’s impossible to categorize one component as the most important factor in your inventory management system, we can help you identify your system’s goals to better specify your system’s needs. Below are a few goals modernized inventory management systems should strive to achieve:
Goals your modernized inventory management systems should strive to achieve
Expanding the availability of actionable insight – One of the top benefits of a modernized inventory management system is the actionable insight it can provide regarding purchase patterns and areas of optimization. Actionable insight can help you reduce costs, provide customer-centered service, and mitigate product loss/theft. Avalon can help expand insight availability with Zebra’s mobile computers, built to secure maximum connectivity, so your workforce can stay up to date on any supply chain changes when and where they occur.
Optimizing storage for lower costs – If left unchecked, deadstock can begin to drain your budget in increased carrying costs and depreciated values. When seeking to lower storage costs, Avalon recommends boosting end-to-end visibility with real-time locationing services such as Zebra MotionWorks. Adaptable to change, real-time visibility allows you to monitor moving inventory, giving you an overview of hidden opportunities in the warehouse, in the yard, and anywhere else you need it.
Accelerating order fulfillment without promoting inaccuracies – Late and inaccurate orders affect customer loyalty. With average order fulfillment times getting shorter, it’s no surprise more warehouses have made speed their goal. To reduce data entry time and shorten travel paths, RFID-powered solutions and tracking can save time by capturing multiple codes without a line of sight. By implementing readers at the loading dock, you can accelerate order verification before shipment, eliminating wasted time and labor.
Facilitating customer tracking and order changes – According to Zebra’s 2020 Shopper Study, over 80% of retailers either provide or plan to provide mobile ordering by 2021. Because customers expect to be able to track their online orders, the visibility that connects to your customers becomes a vital necessity. To preserve identification, we recommend investing in durable labels and accurate scanners that work both in the warehouse and on the field. Zebra’s Certified Consumables still stand as your best option in protecting inventory identification due to their strong adhesives and surface coating.
Maximizing worker performance without increasing training times – As more orders come in, your workforce must find a way to continue meeting deadlines while increasing pick rates. High labor turnover rates make this difficult as companies can spend as much as $7,000 in merely training expenses alone. If your goal is to simplify onboarding while increasing performance, simplicity becomes your crucial component since user-friendly systems can diminish the likelihood of human errors. Equipping your workforce with easy-to-learn technologies such as Android’s familiar OS can help lower training times by as much as 90% to make sure employees can access and navigate inventory management systems as early as possible.
Didn’t see your goal listed? Contact our specialists for a free evaluation of your enterprise objectives and see how you can tailor your inventory management system to meet goals and exceed expectations.
https://avalonintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/identifying-the-key-component-in-your-inventory-management-system-1140x570-1.jpg5701140Avalonhttp://avalonintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Avalon-Logo_APeakTechnologiesCompany-01-1030x313.pngAvalon2020-11-17 10:02:572021-09-19 23:49:37Identifying the Key Component in your Inventory Management System
It’s not news to anyone at this point that visibility has become an indispensable necessity in today’s complicated supply chains. Although new demands and changing guidelines seem to affect every industry across the globe, not every visibility solution is fit to address your needs. Moreover, as demands grow, businesses are faced with multiple factors to track, from delivery times to storage status, to worker safety. Therefore, to better serve our wide variety of customers, Avalon Integration has taken the time to unfold the unique benefits and features of three of Zebra’s most popular tracking solutions, crafted for dependable visibility in today’s unprecedented changes.
Start small with durable identification
Zebra Certified Consumables as a cost-effective and simple way to ensure accurate identification
When increasing operational visibility, we’ve found that even the smallest changes can yield big results. With that in mind, we turn to your labeling and identification system. Recent surveys have found that over half of “lost orders” are misplaced due to faulty labels that carry vital delivery and storage information. To prevent your stock’s information from getting lost (and eventually jeopardizing your product), we recommend evaluating the following label criteria:
Adhesive strength
Surface coating
Resistance to temperatures, moisture, dust exposure
Reel orientation and perforations
Not only can cheap labels harm your printer, but they can peel off or fade away over time, resulting in misplaced and inaccurate orders that hinder the customer experience. To amplify labeling efficiency, Avalon has continuously recommended Zebra Certified Consumables as a cost-effective and simple way to ensure accurate identification no matter the size of your operations.
Take it up a notch with intelligent applications
While RFID solutions serve as a modernized option to track assets and inventory simultaneously
As your business grows, so does the need for flawless technology, which is why when even one device goes missing, your whole team may suffer. As a matter of fact, 80% of costs attributed to lost devices come from data breaches, meaning that one lost tablet could very well impact your whole operation depending on what sort of data it holds.
While RFID solutions serve as a modernized option to track assets and inventory simultaneously, there are other cost-effective tools you can use to track your devices. For example, all of Zebra’s Android-powered mobile computers provide you with access to Mobility DNA applications that expand insight into your devices’ performance.
Device Tracker – Ensure continuous uptime with an application that helps you locate your misplaced device anywhere in the workplace.
PowerPrecision – Manage battery lifecycles across your entire digital fleet and pinpoint when a mobile device is underperforming to prevent surprise downtime.
LifeGuard – Extend security measures with recurrent 90-day patches that keep your devices updated automatically and silently.
Device Diagnostics – Test major systems and deploy simple diagnostics to keep devices running and available without overburdening your IT department.
Expand visibility across the supply chain with RFID-powered MotionWorks
Zebra MotionWorks provide the greatest ease of use, flexibility, and versatility
Last, but certainly not least, when tracking multiple assets, products, and workers throughout the supply chain, visibility solutions like Zebra MotionWorks provide the greatest ease of use, flexibility, and versatility. Customize and grow your system to incorporate new goals by tracking:
Crucial assets – Manage all your deployed tools to verify location, condition, performance, and need all in real-time.
Material flow – Track and automate the flow of material while updating your WMS and ERP systems with actionable data that can be used to adjust to changes in demand.
Yard systems – Increase gate transaction speed to make sure inventory is transported to the correct dock in a timely fashion.
Bring the dependability of accurate tracking to where it matters most with the new MotionWorks Proximity for seamless worker safety, deployed directly on your Zebra mobile device. Reduce touchpoints to prevent germ spread and count on a user-friendly interface that accelerates safe and efficient contact tracing.
In response to the health-crisis, Zebra and Avalon have leveraged MotionWorks for efficient Worker Safety. Tune in to our newest podcast to learn more:
Of course, the above three suggestions fail to encompass the multitude of ways you can efficiently grow operational visibility without increasing costs. To learn how you can integrate a modernized visibility solution in your business, contact our automation specialists for a comprehensive assessment of your workflows.
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Compared to ten years ago, today’s warehouse operations are starkly different. Not only did 5,000 new warehouses appearin a span of 5 years, but e-commerce sales have skyrocketed over 300% way before the global health crisis. Thanks to globalization and the internet, the high demand for specific products and fast order fulfillment has revolutionized operations, leading to one of the biggest business trends helping and hindering operations: SKU proliferation.
As companies adapt to cater to customer preferences, they create new product varieties, giving way to new SKU numbers to identify different types of the same kind of product. This is a natural progression for any growing business, yet without crucial visibility, SKU proliferation can lead to:
Increased carrying costs as you’ll need more shelf space and labor to accommodate more products
Increased manufacturing/production costs for slow-moving inventory
Added order cycle times since workers take more time to compile orders
Missed predictive analytics since collected data does not apply to larger segments of your operations
However, when done correctly, SKU proliferation sharpens your competitive advantage by allowing your business to fulfill a customer’s immediate and secondary needs. Therefore, Avalon Integration outlines three ways your distribution plan can leverage intelligent visibility solutions to best manage varying SKUs.
Bringing Insight to Where it’s Needed Most
When modernizing inventory management, Avalon suggests the following areas to start:
Analyze purchase patterns in conjunction with customer interactions
Zebra’s L10 tablets provide ample screen space, processing power, and integrated scanning capabilities
Obviously, one of the most common causes of SKU proliferation is customer demand. For example, a shoe company selling back shoes may notice the sudden popularity of red shoes and decide to sell them as well. While this may be competitively smart, one must not forget to continue monitoring current stock performance. In our shoe example, that would mean managers would still need to accurately track the number of black shoes in stock, how often they sell, and where they’re located in addition to trends in demand.
To properly analyze stock performance without increasing cycle count times, Avalon recommends streamlining data capture and mobile computing to eliminate data entry. Mobile devices such as Zebra’s L10 tablets provide ample screen space, processing power, and integrated scanning capabilities to empower workers to manage data on the go, creating an undisrupted inventory management system.
Connect workers to real-time stock updates
Integrate real-time visibility with RFID tracking solutions
Customer preferences can change within a day, sometimes in a matter of minutes. Moreover, research shows that customers are more likely to abandon carts if they’re unable to fulfill 100% of their needs in one place. That means every decision your workforce takes matters. To avoid wasting labor efforts, integrate real-time visibility with RFID tracking solutions, such as Zebra MotionWorks, to manage multiple inventory identifiers all once. Inventory counts and location can then be shared with your workforce via their mobile device to accelerate picking by guiding them to the correct location faster.
Protect communication channels across the whole supply chain
Zebra’s TC77 touch-computer for high-speed and long-range connectivity
Disruptive communication channels such as Blockchain Technology are already redefining the way supply chains communicate by allowing enterprises to monitor inventory before it reaches the receiving dock. That means connectivity has now become a driving factor in enhancing competitiveness since it also allows customers to track their orders, a benefit sought by 97% of online shoppers. While there are many ways to establish communication channels between teams, Avalon continues to prioritize streamlined productivity and flexibility by recommending Zebra’s TC77 touch-computer for high-speed and long-range connectivity that keeps field teams and warehouses connected while also providing mobile computing and data capture capabilities.
As a Zebra Premier Solutions’ Partner, Avalon Integration makes sure to connect you with durable enterprise-ready solutions. Contact us today to discover new ways you can get a better handle on SKU proliferation with solutions tailored to your workflow.
Although there are still roughly three months left in the year, e-commerce has already broken industry records and is expected to bring over $4.2 trillion dollars in revenue by the end of the year. As more customers order online, new/fluctuating health guidelines have also resurged alongside the demand for faster service. In the middle of these changes, RFID technology has risen as a modernized solution when it comes to delivering accurate and fast service. As a matter of fact, 41% of decision-makers cite RFID as the best option to improve food traceability, yet only 31% of them currently use it. Unlike previous systems, RFID technology improves inventory management with:
Serialized labeling that eases tracking for SKUs
Readers that capture more than one code at a time
No line of sight required, accelerating order processing
As leaders in modernized efficiency, Avalon Integration investigates the benefits of RFID tracking as it expands operational visibility within your inventory management system.
99.99% Visibility is just the beginning.
As noted earlier, today’s complex operations require dependable visibility in order to properly manage operations. In addition to preventing out-of-stocks and lost assets, RFID tracking can help…
Establish better customer service
RFID systems reduce delays during production
By locating inventory quickly in real-time, RFID systems reduce delays during production and fulfillment. Consequently, your workforce is better equipped to meet tighter deadlines for faster delivery.
Moreover, because RFID readers can capture multiple codes at once, they can verify orders and products before they leave the shipping dock, eliminating errors that could drive customers away.
Lastly, because today’s customers expect to be able to track their orders in real-time, comprehensive solutions such as Zebra’s RFID technologies enhance your competitive edge by connecting order status to your management system, so your customers can get the most up to date insight on their purchase.
Greater visibility allows you to notice areas needing improvement
Greater visibility allows you to notice areas needing improvement such as inefficient storage spaces. By optimizing storage, organizations can expand picking capacity by as much as 30% without adding to worker stress. Visibility solutions such as Zebra’s MotionWorks use RFID to safeguard ROI by:
Managing on-the-move inventory in real-time to avoid misplacements
Decreasing inventory costs associated with over-stocking
Verify inventory is meeting compliance requirements throughout the supply chain process
Collect predictive analytics
An efficient RFID system is capable of collecting actionable data
The 2020 holiday rush may just be another factor due to driving the need for visibility. An efficient RFID system is capable of collecting actionable data based on current workflows and past demands to deliver crucial analytics to help you prepare for future challenges.
Efficient insight leads to reliable foresight. Whether you choose to continue enhancing operations with conventional labels or RFID technologies, Avalon recommends securing label efficiency with Zebra Certified Consumables. Designed to perform flawlessly in the most arduous environments, Zebra labels and RFID tags can help you meet any of the outlined goals while adapting to your unique needs.
To see whether your operations could benefit from a new tracking system, contact Avalon’s labeling specialists here.
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