Parcel - June 2008 - (Page 12)

feature MOVING FROM MANUAL TO AUTOMATED FULFILLMENT A case study and guide to growth By Dennis Dearth Certainly one of the most welcome challenges that could be faced in business is strong growth. We all want it but must adapt to its opportunities and challenges appropriately. In a manual fulﬁllment environment, the opportunities to meet the challenges growth presents, such as increased and perhaps widely varied product order demand, range from simply expanding existing manually intensive operational processes to adopting varying degrees of automation. Naturally, this process raises quite a few questions. Here, we will cover some basic questions surrounding the challenges of moving from manual to automated fulﬁllment. Is Automation Always the Answer? Absolutely not. Although arguably reasonable in general, each situation must be evaluated individually on its own merits. There are many factors to be considered, and it’s not enough to focus on only the process areas immediately impacted, without considering overall impact to other areas of operation. At a high level, the considerations when comparing expansion of manual operations vs. automation adoption range from the obvious issue of costs to others such as facility, operational and labor force impacts. Each area for consideration has multiple components and needs to be weighed and compared in order to answer the question for each situation. Direct Cost — Direct cost is clearly one of the most signiﬁcant considerations. The initial purchase of the physical equipment is probably the most visible and largest; however, other related, relevant costs should be factored in. These can include physical installation, spare parts, maintenance and other operational expenses. Facility — The existing facility and internal layout must be evaluated in the context of any potential changes required to support automation. In other words, what physical modiﬁcations will have to be made, and will the infrastructure readily support those modiﬁcations? Operational — Automation adoption will drive process change, the range and extent depending on the nature of the automation itself. Careful analysis is required to ensure that the efﬁciencies gained in one area due to adding automa12 May 2008 www.PARCELindustry.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Parcel - June 2008

Parcel - June 2008 Contents Editor's Note What Would Augello Say? Success Means Never Being Satisfied Moving from Manual to Automated Fulfillment Regional Carriers Move to the Forefront Understanding Warehouse Management Systems Negotiating Carrier Contracts It’s All About the Data! How Long Will The East-West Trade Imbalance Last? Educate the Shipper, or Fix the Software? Product Profile On the Mark New Products & Services Advertiser Index Wrap Up

Parcel - June 2008

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