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98
Avoid the hype: realise
wireless opportunities today
Steven Hargreaves, product director, Solarsoft.
Wireless technologies can and will transform the supply chain, but organisations delaying their investment until RFID reaches
technical and financial maturity are missing a trick. There are huge gains to be made today from wireless barcode scanning and the
downstream use of wireless technologies to authenticate deliveries. So why do 60% of medium-sized distribution companies still rely
on manual warehouse operations?
Wireless ubiquity
Wireless technology has become a standard part of everyday
commercial life. From the executive Blackberry to Wi-Fi in coffee
shops and hotels, the ability to keep in touch, check emails and even
update orders while mobile has become an essential business tool.
Yet the majority of warehousing operations are still reliant on
manual, paper-based processes. Despite the near decade-long focus
on innovative wireless solutions such as Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID), equipment vendors estimate that around 60% of
SMEs are not even using barcodes and handheld wireless scanning
guns, even though this technology has been widely used to deliver
quantifiable benefits for many years.
“Why wait for the arrival of
cutting-edge technology when
today’s wireless solutions are proven,
low-cost and low-risk?”
While some markets have been driven by giant retailers to adopt
RFID, the jury is still out on whether RFID technology will ever
achieve required levels of standardisation, reliability and price to be
viable throughout the supply chain. Those organisations postponing
their wireless investments, waiting for RIFD to deliver, are missing out
on the chance to streamline processes, drive down cost and improve
customer service. Why wait for the arrival of cutting-edge
technology when today’s wireless solutions are proven,
low-cost and low-risk?
Missed opportunity
Any organisation with more than two or three individuals
carrying out picking, packing and put-away activities in the
warehouse could realise significant productivity gains from
barcoding solutions tightly integrated to the ERP software.
In most cases, the simple automation of the warehouse
process using barcodes delivers operational gains in the
region of 15-30%. Other benefits include accuracy in
locating goods which improves productivity, reduces lost
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