The warehouse sector is currently facing significant labor shortages, with estimates suggesting staffing deficits of 10% to 25%. This shortfall presents major challenges in meeting the rising demands of the supply chain, particularly in shipping and distribution. These constraints, coupled with the growing need for efficiency, underscore the importance of optimizing warehouse operations.
Automation is no longer just an option; it’s a necessity for maintaining competitive advantage and safeguarding profit margins, and many people invest in a Warehouse Management System (WMS) to try and achieve this. But before investing heavily in a WMS, consider the impact that transportation management and shipping software can have on your warehouse efficiency. These upgrade tips can help you transform your operation, potentially without the need for a full WMS implementation.
Assessing Your Needs
Before deciding on the types of automation upgrades to pursue, it’s important to evaluate your current operations. Here’s how to conduct a basic assessment:
- Map current processes to identify strengths, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement.
- Collect operational data such as inventory turnover rates, order processing times, error rates, and labor costs to establish a baseline.
- Analyze your findings with input from employees on the ground.
- Review your existing technology stack to determine compatibility with new automation technologies.
- Develop an implementation plan that includes training, onboarding, budgeting, and strategies for gaining employee buy-in.
Key Areas to Upgrade With Automation
Automation isn’t one-size-fits-all, and a WMS isn’t always the answer. A lot of the time, integrating advanced shipping software with your existing ERP can yield higher ROI and streamline operations more effectively. After analyzing your needs, consider which of these categories could benefit most from investing in shipping software:
- Rating: Automate the process of rate shopping across multiple carriers to ensure you are getting the best rate for each shipment.
- Packing: Automation can accelerate packing and improve accuracy helping to reduce the overall number of boxes and packing material needed for orders.
- Labeling: Automated labeling processes can help to reduce errors, improve shipping speed, and accuracy.
- Inventory Management: Integrating your ERP with shipping software might offer the real-time visibility you need without the complexity of a WMS, streamlining inventory tracking and preventing stockouts.
- Employee Wellbeing: Automation doesn’t just improve efficiency; it also reduces the burden on employees. Streamlining workflows with the right shipping software can enhance job satisfaction and retention without the need for a WMS.
When Tiger Tail USA implemented 3G Pacejet Shipping into their operation during an unusually busy time for the company, the streamlined workflows made it much easier to keep up with the ever-increasing volume of work. By leveraging the capabilities of 3G Pacejet Shipping, they avoided the stress and burnout that so often accompanies rapid company growth, demonstrating that comprehensive shipping software can sometimes do the heavy lifting of a WMS without the added complexity and additional costs.
Automating Warehouse Processes With 3G
In many cases, a comprehensive transportation suite like 3G’s can provide the necessary integration and efficiency improvements when the goal is to automate processes within a warehouse.
3G’s advanced, cloud-based system streamlines over-the-road and multimodal transport, fulfillment, and shipping. It integrates smoothly with most automation solutions, maximizing data visibility, streamlining management, and unifying workflows—often making a separate WMS unnecessary. Ready to explore how 3G can enhance your warehouse operations? Schedule a demo today.
