The Material Handling Blog

“Automate it.” Every industrial engineer is familiar with this phrase, whether it comes from executives or industry demand. Today’s businesses are always looking to make their processes more efficient and flexible, and automation can be one of the best tools to achieve these goals in light of business growth and market changes. Reaping the most benefit from a modernized system isn’t easy and requires careful planning. Achieving operational goals of increased productivity and decreased waste within your budget, are a significant challenge. No two automated material handling solutions are ever the same. Each company and industry sector may require different solutions based on their specific objectives, parameters and constraints.

In order to maximize your return on investment (ROI) for a robotic system, it is vital that you optimize the tasks that the robot is assigned. If the rate at which the robot handles product does not completely utilize the robot’s capabilities, you just might be leaving opportunities on the table. Analyzing the tasks, rates and capabilities can help not only maximize the robotic system but also help reduce the need for ancillary equipment and additional investments, creating a more streamline operation.

If you look up the word maintenance on the internet, you will find a lot of different variations in definition – from how often to service equipment to what degree of maintenance – and terminology. The bottom line is that the need of a maintenance plan cannot be ignored. The most common types of maintenance in the material handling industry can be put into four distinct categories. These maintenance activities include Reactive, Preventive, Predictive or Reliability Centered Maintenance practices. No matter if you have just a small conveyor system or a multimillion dollar fully automated distribution center you will have to perform maintenance activities to keep the equipment running. For each method, there are pros and cons.

More companies are starting to prioritize automation while those that had already put a lot of focus on automation are not looking to slow down. In fact, there is greater emphasis on it. Companies are realizing the competitive advantages that automation provides and are starting to challenge why adding a goods to person or ASRS system may or may not work in their business. The increased focus on automation, does not remove or decrease the need for strong operational management, if anything, it still requires communication and organization from leadership to succeed. Automation helps efficiency but a facility must rely on good processes and timely communication of information to manage a dynamic environment.

Our second webinar of the Supply Chain Explained: LIVE series featured advice from Bastian Solutions’ Director of Consulting, Jason Tenorio, on challenges everyone in the B2B warehousing world is facing. The country has seen a large increase in onshoring due to international transportation issues, along with shutdowns or extreme volume losses in the food service, retail and entertainment industries. In some situations, B2B warehouses are being converted to ecommerce shipping sites, and are being asked to drop-ship direct to consumer orders. We’ve also seen an increase in labor shortages and turnover rates – making it that much harder to meet demand.

Throwing good money after bad often happens without the realization that it’s being done. We’ve worked with several clients over the years where the common thread across projects has been an investment in something of considerable capital value that simply isn’t well suited for the client’s operation.

Graduating from university is an exciting and meaningful milestone for many. Following shortly after is a huge leap into the first full-time position of your career

Automated material handling systems often have requirements that exceed typical warehouse design considerations. These are the items to keep in mind to ensure your new distribution facility can properly house these complex systems.

As distribution centers become more automated, a well thought-out and formal warehouse system test plan and test scenarios can help conquer these increasingly complex systems.

Learn more about this unique automated warehouse storage system and what makes it the best option for maximizing storage density.

Wondering whether automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are the right solution for your material handling problem? These 5 questions will help. Read: 5 Questions to Ask When Considering AGVs

The world of automated warehouse vehicles can be confusing. Just consider the various types of available guidance systems: wire-guidance, magnetic tape and magnetic paint, laser-guidance, inertial navigation, and camera based imaging (i.e. vision-guidance). When you factor in the type of vehicle, e.g. tugger, unit load, custom, etc., the task of selecting a specific platform can be overwhelming. Read: Navigating the World of Automated Warehouse Vehicles