Holste Says... |
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| ...when considering deploying automation a well conceived backup plan, or temporary work around, that will keep your operation running while faults are being corrected, is essential. |
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There is concern that once installed, depending on system complexity, there may be no way to quickly recover from unexpected system related deficiencies that can surface at anytime. There appears to be several factors that contribute to this concern:
- vendor tendency towards excessive equipment, control, and software complexity
- lack of on-hand technicians and IT personal at the DC, especially DCs with multiple shift operations
- ill-advised experimentation with new methods and/or technologies
- inadequate long-term planning and evaluation relative to options and alternatives
- and, because “stuff” happens – the lack of a “what if” analysis and/or backup plan
An example of what drives some of this concern is how relatively sudden marketplace changes impact on DC operations. Order fulfillment systems installed just a few years ago are now required to process huge volumes of small lightweight products (cases, cartons, bags, cold sealed items, inner packs and eaches) a capability that conventional conveyor systems do not have. While new products are being introduced to address these requirements, current operations are being forced to either increase their percentage of non-conveyable items or provide specially designed sub-systems to handle them.
In addition to the above there is the rising security fear of having interactive computerized systems infected and/or hacked into leading to a major shutdown.
What this adds up to is that the DC automation picture is not as clear cut as we would like for it to be:
Pro - Automated equipment such as: cubing and dimensional/weigh-in-motion, label print and apply, case filling and sealing, sorting, palletizing, are a few examples of where automation will definitely increase throughput and productivity of repetitive operations. Standalone automated equipment of this type can operate in the typical DC environment reliability and efficiently without a high degree of system integration and dependency. This level of automation makes it much easier to accommodate changes in SKUs and order profiles while increasing DC performance. In addition, security risks are easier to manage and isolate.
Con – It’s a fact that bolt-to-the-floor integrated systems can be costly and time consuming to reconfigure as customer order profiles change. System planners usually incorporate some growth capacity into the system for expansion purposes. This is sometimes described euphemistically as being a “scalable” solution. Therefore, all throughout the system planning stage the need for operational flexibility must be stressed. In addition, many DCs have at least one or two huge peak seasons per year when they may require a large pool of temporary labor. In this case, automation order fulfillment may be a benefit or a hindrance depending on how it is configured and applied.
Failure of any part of an automated system operation can be difficult to recover from. Therefore, when considering deploying automation a well conceived backup plan, or temporary work around, that will keep your operation running while faults are being corrected, is essential. This is especially true if experimental or prototype equipment is deployed in the mainline system.
Final Thoughts
On the brighter side, ProMat 2017 continues to do a great job of education industry managers as to the scope and potential that automation has for lowering operating cost and growth. No doubt, automation in the DC is here to stay and is the way of the future.
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