Just like any other indigenous industry, the Indian warehousing industry is also gearing up to integrate newer ideas and strategies that would automatically enhance their productivity and operational efficiency, thus smoothing the path for the better financial bottom line. Though the archaic concept of Indian warehouses render them as just storage and stockpiling options, commonly known as godowns, there is a major refurbishment and renewal of the warehousing sector in the country which is witnessing a lot of integrated amenities through warehousing and an expansion of the industry. Warehouse management plays a significantly crucial role in the supply chain of e-commerce entities and incorporating state of the art practices would help them in staying ahead of their nearest competitors.
Need for enhancement of warehousing practices and warehouse management services :
The customers of nowadays have become extremely knowledgeable and concerned about their shopping preferences and experiences. They demand seamless procedures like shorter lead times and instantaneous deliveries. This kind of growing pressure on e-commerce business owners to meet their customer demands and execute them to complete fruition rapidly is leading them to urge warehouse business owners to innovate and incorporate newer practices for faster and satisfactorily efficient picking, packing, storage and shipping operations.
Implementing newer and advanced technology in warehousing operations as we as warehouse management is going to increase their operational efficiency quickly and in the most cost-effective manner. Warehouse management systems, as well as core warehousing operations, are going to enhance significantly as India moves into the next decade with an aim to increase the national economic worth.
Indian Warehouse management trends of 2020 :
The top warehouse management trends that are going to make a significant amount of difference against the Indian perspective in the upcoming decade, starting from 2020, can be enumerated below.
- Integrating Automation practices like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – Though in a labour-intensive country like India achieving full-scale automation through smart technology and robotics is fairly difficult as few tasks will prove cheaper if undertaken by humans, warehouse authorities are trying to incorporate advanced technologies like robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the back end to improve the warehousing operations. This is the emerging trend of warehouse management as India is entering the age of consolidation in the upcoming decade. With the introduction of these technologies, the Indian warehousing industry is expected to demonstrate a two-times growth in the next 2 years. The solutions that will dominate the integration of advanced solutions in 2020 can be demonstrated below.
- Automation to be implemented in labour-intensive operations which include self-management of inventory systems, self-driving of forklifts, other ground-based automobiles and similar stuff which can reduce manual dependency.
- Real-time monitoring and tracking of essential warehouse operations and effective shipping through execution of business intelligence, which will develop and ultimately metamorphose warehouse management operations. These processes will primarily consist of AI-powered inspections, packaging and similar operations.
- Predictive analysis through warehousing solutions.
- Sustainable Warehousing Practices – The upcoming decade will witness a growing number of warehouse business owners resorting to sustainable warehousing practices in order to reduce their carbon footprints. These practices would reduce the utility bills while providing an eco-friendly environment for their business to thrive in. Some of the sustainable warehousing and warehouse management practices can be summarised below.
- Investment in energy-efficient equipment and appliances like installation of LED lights will result in conservation of energy and will prove extremely environment-friendly.
- Efficient packaging is lighter, has cheaper shipping options and is biodegradable and all of these can considerably lessen the carbon footprint of the warehousing business.
- Insulation of the warehouse building and property improves the temperature control of the warehouse and reduces the impact of the warehouse on the environment, while simultaneously lessening the heating and cooling bills. Proper insulation helps in reduction of wear and tear of the warehouse management system and lessening the energy consumption and corresponding bills.
- 2020 will witness a successful emergence of Blockchain Technology in warehousing solutions which will effectively create a competent system that records multiple transactions, monitor and track assets and offer ease of access in document management.
- Efficient and successful last-mile deliveries – In 2019, global e-commerce businesses grew by 21.5% and the growth of eCommerce sales and demands for rapid and efficient deliveries have prompted the business owners to provide amazing shopping experiences through systematic and coherent logistics. This kind of massive demand from customers will increase the requirement of last-mile deliveries.
- Location of warehouses near ports, major highways and bridges will improve logistics.
- High volume of goods that need to be shipped daily require the retailers to look for properties with good structural and electrical capabilities and redesign archaic warehouses that will implement efficient throughput.
- Considerably high warehouse ceilings and wider column spacings will accommodate modern vertical racking and shelving systems that will effectuate prompt and last-mile deliveries.
- Cross-docking practices involve reception of goods at the door of a facility and shipping out immediately through another. These will allow for the efficient and prompt transportation of perishable goods and negate the storage options of food and beverage.
- Introducing sustainable features and eco-friendly solutions like introducing electric charging options at stations will reduce the cost and need for oil and gas as at least 30% of the cost of deliveries happen in the last-mile.
- Introduction of Drones – Small retailers will follow the example of e-commerce giants and introduce drone technology in operations like inventory management.
- A couple of drones can successfully perform the operation of more than 100 people and with maximum precision and accuracy.
- Aerial drones equipped with cameras and optical sensors can identify products and scan their respective barcodes from a considerable distance but with 100 per cent accuracy.
These are the essential trends of warehousing and warehouse management systems that are going to be integrated into the Indian warehousing sector in 2020.