Accurate and timely inventory information is key to customer satisfaction and a driver for increased productivity and profitability. Getting a visual and real-time (or near real-time) analytics snapshot of your warehouse could prove an invaluable tool from an operations standpoint.
A well implemented and integrated warehouse inventory control system enables you to capture accurate product quantities and locations and gives you instant access to item availability information both within the warehouse and out in the field.
Translating your Warehouse Operations to a Visual Picture
Why choose to implement an analytics dashboard for your warehousing system? It’s all about getting a handle on traceability, but gives the advantage of the added efficiency and accuracy throughout the warehouse. In addition, it allows improved efficiency of receiving, put away and inventory replenishment process in a more visual perspective.
Implementing an analytics dashboard on top of your “License Plating” solution helps provide efficient, traceable information throughout the warehouse. For example, PO Receiving creates a new record of each preprinted license plate and the license plate label is attached to the pallets. The license plates are created in receiving as soon as product is put on a pallet.
During receiving, warehouse workers capture country of origin and certain qualitative attributes such as Order Number, Order Type, Picker Name, Released-to Name, Warehouse Number & Location as well as quantitative ones such as the Picked Quantity, Released Quantity, Outstanding Quantity, Picks per Day or per Hour, and so on. The process simplifies an audit by making it much more efficient and allowing tracking of product information quickly and completely, from receiving to shipping. Every item number has a license plate attached to it with the customer that it went out on. The item number can be brought up in any desired date range and a report or a dashboard can be created within minutes to show auditors the actual purchase order that it came in on.
More Efficient Warehouse Operations
A typical use case for a real-time (or near real-time) warehouse analytics dashboard could be the following: After the receiving process has been completed, the system creates a “Put Away” suggestion that forklift drivers receive on large TV screens directly in the warehouse. Operations continually monitors the quantity at each picking location and creates a replenishment suggestion when threshold levels drop too low. Once the first forklift driver responds and scans the license plate, the suggestion disappears from the screen providing the visual queue. With a near real-time (10- or 15-minute refresh frequency) visual dashboard hanging on the warehouse wall, it’s a lot quicker when pickers are working in the warehouse.
Better Warehouse Analytics
With the real-time inventory warehouse dashboard, you would be able to focus and serve other departments better. You may know on paper of certain occurrences, but now you can better identify trends. This can be particularly helpful in solving inventory problems.
A well-designed warehouse dashboard catered to your specific requirements would enable you to redirect some employees to more strategic tasks. For example, as the warehouse ops manager, you could shuffle through lots of paperwork in order to confirm that outgoing shipments contained the products and amounts ordered. A simple visual on a report or a dashboard would allow you to focus on other tasks and to become more analytical.
Improved Customer Service
If you are finding that your customers, the more progressive retailers, as well as your auditors, are asking for more information such as country of origin for their own compliance and in-store signage, third-party safety audits and trace-ability processes, then perhaps you require something more of a warehouse analytics dashboard to streamline your “field-to-fork” processes and to enhance traceability.
Need help with your warehouse analytics and dashboarding? Talk to NewIntelligence to book your no-cost, no-obligation consultation today.
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