<h3>The Buzzword of Resilience in Warehouse Logistics</h3>
<p>In this very special situation with a pandemic, <strong>resilience</strong> has become a buzzword. Every business, not only the <strong>supply chain</strong>, is talking about resilience. However, what does resilience mean regarding warehouse logistics? Is it really something new in warehouse logistics?</p>
<h3>Automating Logistics for Resilience</h3>
<p>I subscribe to newsletters from several major global management-consulting companies, and they mention the pandemic and social distancing as a main factor for automating logistics to create a resilient flow. I think these firms need to come down to earth a little bit and see warehouse operations in real life. Also, consider the financial figures in an automation project (you need to close an ROI).</p>
<h3>Ensuring Safety and Efficiency in Warehouses</h3>
<p>First, I would say a well-configured warehouse is perfectly safe to work in despite the pandemic. If you work actively with your flow using <strong>ABC analysis</strong> and optimize workload in all departments and/or working areas of the warehouse, you avoid crowded aisles. Bottlenecks and queues are a big no-no in all logistics flows. Waiting time is one of the biggest reasons for inefficiency in warehouse flow. There is no difference at all from a production unit.</p>
<h3>Incorporating Resilience into Warehouse Strategy</h3>
<p>I totally agree resilience should be a part of every warehouse strategy. Resilience against poor service level, poor quality, technical breakdowns, under-capacity, and, of course, securing staffing resources (we have the season with flu every year), etc. In every warehouse, a disruption like the ones I mention above means lost sales. For an <strong>e-commerce B2C</strong> business, the consequence is you lose customers and turnover. There is no customer loyalty; if you do not deliver as promised, they look at a competitor instead.</p>
<h3>Risks and Costs of Automation</h3>
<p>If you read the newsletters from these global management-consulting firms, it seems that increasing the level of automation is the answer to everything. However, a big reason many companies are so careful regarding automation is the risks it also means with a flow that is more complex. Complex integrations between different hardware and software mean you also build in risks in your flow. That is the price for higher efficiency. It is often worth it, not because of social distancing but because you need to decrease logistics costs compared to the turnover. There are many things to consider when decreasing the risks of automation. All of them cost money: how reliable is the solution? Does the supplier of automation have a big service network? How does the support agreement look? Do you need to hire in-house technical competence? Do you need power backup? (A very big investment). Do you need investments in fire sprinklers? Etc.</p>
<h3>Balancing Opportunities and Risks</h3>
<p>Don&#8217;t get me wrong; I am a strong advocate of technical solutions that can increase efficiency and service, but it should be done for the right reason, and there must be a balance between opportunities and risks.</p>
<h3>Maintaining Agility with Automation</h3>
<p>Another risk with too much automation is that you often decrease the level of agility in the flow. Can you still handle the peaks without losing service level and customer expectations? If you automate, it is good to be able to have a parallel manual flow to manage the pressure in peaks like Black Friday. In lean, they call technical bottlenecks “monuments”—something you cannot move aside or bypass.</p>
<h3>Starting with a Competent WMS</h3>
<p>As I have written before, I propose to start with a competent <strong>WMS</strong> before automating. You can do so much with a modern WMS regarding efficiency, especially now when many WMS suppliers use <strong>AI/ML</strong> to optimize the flow. In this way, you also keep the agility and can easily scale up resources in peaks. When it is not possible to keep a high level of or increase efficiency anymore, it is time to look at automation solutions. Of course, another reason to automate is volume efficiency. If you don&#8217;t have enough space and relocating is not an option, you increase the volume efficiency with automation.</p>
<h3>The Future of Resilient Warehouse Operations</h3>
<p>Modern warehouse operations are already resilient, but maybe for different reasons. It has been part of the warehouse logistics strategy for many years. It is a necessity for successful businesses. Many warehouse operations invest in automation, and this trend will increase. It is necessary to have competitive service and increase margins.</p>
<p><strong>Roberth Karlsson</strong></p>
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Resilient warehouse logistics
