The warehouse of the future
A new way of producing
Tomorrow, armies of robots will take over the entire supply chain, from product reception to loading operations. The arrival of this new, totally connected, automated, robotized supply chain is not far off, even if many challenges remain to be overcome. One of the first will be to make all the warehouse's IT systems compatible, to structure and exploit all the data generated by connected equipment - forklifts, conveyors, inventory drones, etc. - and then to share it on new platforms. - then share them on new intelligent platforms for predictive analysis. The Internet of Things (IoT) will be present at every stage of the supply chain. In a recent study by commercial real estate consultancy CBRE, IoT was cited by Supply Chain Directors as the technology that is expected to have the greatest impact on their business.
New, high value-added tools
"The dream of many logisticians and shippers is to have a common, open platform where all players can exchange information, to finally have this end-to-end vision that truly generates value", say the authors of this report. JLL, another commercial real estate consultancy which has also published a study on the warehouse of the future, highlights all the hyper-connected equipment (blockchain, RFID, GPS beacons, etc.) providing more analysis for decision-making and enabling better use of available resources. Other innovations include voice picking and augmented reality for operators. "Automated technology Goods To Man is expected to have the greatest impact today, with robots or automated shuttles managing the movement of goods, leaving the more complex tasks of sorting and picking to humans," says the study. Finally, 3D printing, designed to ensure just-in-time, on-demand production, is also set to revolutionize the organization of the supply chain in the near future.
