10 Things to Consider Before Implementing Warehouse Automation

Warehouse automation presents a valuable opportunity for operational improvement, offering benefits such as cost reduction, labor efficiency, increased accuracy, and enhanced efficiency. Before embarking on an automation project, it’s crucial to consider factors including project goals, understanding of physical space, potential oversights or delays, employee impact, and future scalability. Key steps involve identifying automation goals, aligning these with corporate objectives, adjusting based on implementation learnings, and developing KPIs. Understanding inventory flow, assessing physical space, ensuring machinery compatibility with building specifications, and addressing permit and insurance requirements are foundational. Ensuring connectivity for robotic solutions, choosing the right manufacturing partner to avoid delays, preferring standard solutions over customizations to save time, effectively communicating with employees to manage change, having the right resources or integrators in place, and selecting scalable solutions to accommodate future growth are also emphasized. This guide underscores the importance of careful planning and consideration in achieving a successful warehouse automation implementation, especially in the context of the growing interest spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for operational resilience.