The Three Software Musketeers – xTrack WMS Robots
If you are a supply chain specialist, logistics or operations manager or a warehouse team coordinator, or you simply work in a warehouse, then this article is for you. By reading it to the end, you’ll understand the benefits of using digital operations management to manage or oversee your operations.
What is an efficient WMS software solution?
An application called WMS (Warehouse Management Software) is “responsible” for the coordination of workflows in a warehouse. The challenge for an effective WMS is to automate all processes. Here we don’t necessarily mean automation with physical robots, conveyor belts or other sophisticated equipment, but the digitalization of the activities that warehouse staff perform.
The rapid changes in workflows and the companies’ need to immediately adapt to market evolution require automation of all processes involving goods, as well as digital management of activities carried out by the warehouse operators. Even more clearly, a WMS application organizes absolutely all the processes that take place from the moment goods enter your warehouse until they are delivered to the end customer: receiving, goods inspection, putaway, replenishment, inventory, picking, delivery verification, consolidation and even loading onto trucks.
From our point of view, an efficient WMS is one that:
- eliminates as much as possible human decision making from all warehouse operations;
- requires the shortest possible learning curve of the application and of the way it can be used with optimal effects on the time of receipt or delivery to the customers;
- has great flexibility in changing flows and adapting to business requirements, without the need for user re-training.
These principles underpin the structure and technologies we use when designing our xTrack WMS solutions. One of the key features of our work is continuous improvement; we continually invest in improving our applications and identifying new technologies that will further help warehouse operators.
Thus, over time, we have developed a unique task technology (the instructions received by warehouse operators), which gives us the confidence that we achieve our performance and flexibility goals in our implementations.
In addition to the ergonomics of the tasks, in the xTrack WMS application’s BO there are 3 processes running continuously that act like software robots automating the repetitive activities of warehouse team leaders or dispatchers. These robots manage the work tasks.
Imagine a warehouse where more than 20,000 tasks have to be managed taking into account different criteria. How much human effort does it take to order these tasks so that decisions can be made when events such as products missing on the rank or changing task priorities occur? You know only too well how much stress accumulates during a day because of changes that can arise during the course of so many warehouse activities!
The 3 xTrack robots literally and figuratively ensure your peace of mind while working. Warehouse discussions are no longer an endless stream of questions like “Boss, how am I doing?”, “What are you doing? We’ve got a new order.” or “Hey, where the heck did you put the limited edition pens you got yesterday?” and the related replies. You don’t hear any more heated comments about the latest football match or inflammatory political statements that have nothing to do with work. Everyone knows what they have to do, and everyone on the team is assigned exactly as many tasks as they can handle during their working hours. Maximum efficiency! We have also noticed that people are more motivated to work because the number of tasks assigned and the number of tasks completed can be seen by everyone. This gives them, on the one hand, the satisfaction of a job well done and, on the other, the certainty that their work is always seen by their superiors.
xTrack WMS robots
But let’s get back to the 3 robots behind the WMS app. Who are they and what do they do? We’ve already said that they take over the repetitive tasks of the warehouse managers, allowing them to move on to the next level of decision making, such as identifying new flows that can be optimized.
Task generator
The first of the robots is the most industrious because it also has the most things to do. It’s called the Task Generator and it creates tasks of all kinds, based on the different criteria it knows very well. It doesn’t interact with humans at all, it just sets the operations to be done in the warehouse, without assigning them. For example, one type of task contains all the information you need to go to a certain place in the warehouse, get something in a certain quantity from there and take those things to another location. The humans don’t even need to know what happens next. They don’t have to worry about that anymore. They become cogs in a very complicated clockwork mechanism. That’s where the power of our WMS comes from. The warehouse operators are no longer in any doubt about what they have to do. They perform the assigned task with the certainty that it is the optimal solution in that particular situation. What happens next is the job of the next robot, whose main characteristic is patience.
Task Manager
The name of the second WMS robot is Task Manager. With enviable meticulousness, it takes all the tasks created by the Task Generator and puts them in order. It puts them on hangers, sorts them and checks them constantly to make sure no new conditions arise that would require reordering operations. When it finishes its work, it sends everything on to the next robot.
Task Allocator
We called the third robot Task Allocator. It is the “psychologist” of the triad. He knows the people, what they can do, how much they can do and when they can do a particular task. It knows the skills of all the operators in the warehouse, no matter how many there are. His main task is to allocate tasks according to skills and preferences, based on the operators’ experiences. Warehouse operations are optimized qualitatively, as employees are given tasks they enjoy doing more and which they are better at than their colleagues. Everyone loves Task Allocator! 🙂 They are sure that all operational mistakes, if any, will be taken care of by this ultimate robot. The reality is that there are delivery errors in warehouses, and the return of “mis-delivered” goods can become even more expensive than the goods themselves.
The symbiosis between humans and these three software robots is perfect in xTrack WMS deployments. Humans are less stressed because they don’t have to learn new work procedures as the steps are automatically configured via the application and applied by the robots. The total number of human errors is almost completely reduced because people are engaged in a rigorous routine governed by the xTrack WMS application’s complex algorithms. The number of errors decreases not necessarily because people pay more attention to their tasks, but because they are more relaxed as they only do things they are familiar with and skilled at.
Do you want to enjoy the benefits of xTrack WMS? Fill in any form on our website and we’ll get back to you in 48 hours at the most.
