Retail & wholesale

Automation delivers more control over the supply chain

The non-specialist retailers and wholesalers are increasingly entering each other’s territories. Companies integrate forwards or backwards in the supply chain or seek alliances with other parties. Everybody targets every segment. Moreover, new competitors are entering the market; both offline and online.

Other trends are larger product ranges and international orientations.

Especially retailers have to deal with unpredictable consumer behaviour; they want to buy when and where they want. Presence in multiple channels (omni-channel) is a must. Moreover, we see an aging population, more single households, increased attention for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable products and of course more convenience, speed, fun and experience. Product range are being adjusted all the time and therefor logistics processes need adaption too. Innovation is important; we see large retailers even (again) delivering on bikes.

These trends are forcing retailers and wholesalers increasingly to consider to automate their warehousing processes; from inventory management to management of customer data. Operational excellence is important and processes must be designed for efficiently. A high degree of automation becomes essential. The level of automation goes even further implemented when it comes to automated orderpicking and internal transportation. Low error rates and speed (read: efficiency) are absolutely required