Thinking logically: the latest in warehousing and logistics technology

The iOS-enabled indoor positioning system from EVS (short for electronic verification systems) provide accurate locations within a facility in a way that standard mapping technologies do not, according to Nathan Brown, chief technology officer. Through this “digital twin” concept, workers within a warehousing and logistics location can see where they are—and where others are—under their facility roof.

“Anybody using our system, we know where they are in the facility, “he says. “Where are people spending their time? How fast are they moving? What path are they taking from Point A to Point B? … When somebody drives across the facility, I can watch their icon move across the facility.” Such systems have been around for a while, he adds, “but they were expensive, and proprietary.”

The newly sized 40x48 version of the Odyssey Low Profile Pallet from Orbis provide the same stability and features of the original, with a 5.6-inch heights aimed to seamlessly integrate with alternative pallets found in existing pallet pools, the company says. The reusable pallet produces repeat performance, improving load stability with steel reinforcements and molded frictional elements, and designed to carry edge-racked loads of more than 2,800 pounds—yet featuring handholds for easy carrying, and smooth plastic surfaces free of nails and splinters.

“We’ve tried to facilitate more of a conversion from one-way packaging to reusable packaging,” says Phil Biga, senior product manager – RPM. “We’ve had a few conversations with different bakeries and snack food suppliers looking to convert from wood to reusables, asking us, ‘How do we manage the reuse of packaging, tracking, maintaining, cleaning, and keeping it in our supply chain?’ … We have a full offering of core services to manage reusable packaging.”

Wherefour provides a full material traceability platform for companies that handle any sort of process manufacturing, says CEO Matt Brown. “Anything blended, mixed, formulated, products like that, our system is designed to track everything from the beginning to the final consumer,” he says. “We work with lots of different industries, but food and beverage, and bakery, are probably the top industries we are suited for.”

Wherefour’s platform is cloud-based and works on local devices, Brown says. “It’s nice for bakeries that are of some scale, and need people to roam around facility, to be able to use the system,” he says. “We do have customers in warehousing, who use tablets and can take Wherefour with them as they go throughout the facility.”

The portable Robot S7 semi-automatic stretch wrapper from Robopac handles any weight, and most load lengths and widths, with CUBE Technology that cuts film usage between 30% and 55%, along with load containment, reducing potential damage to your product by 40%, the company says. The seven-inch touchscreen makes it easy to use, while the Power Drive system with brushless motors saves about 20% of your power consumption, with battery life of about 250 pallets per charge.

Snack food and bakery facilities “have a lot of order picking—grab a pallet, order pick, fill a pallet,” says Derek Jones, marketing manager for Robopac. “They like the portability of the S7 to be able to take the machine to the loads, instead of taking the loads to the turntable stretch-wrapper, which becomes a bottleneck. They like the flexibility and portability of the stretch-wrapper.”

The AS/RS system from AMF is designed for storage of full pallets, including freezer systems, and it’s helpful with first-in, first-out correct order systems, says Wes Bryant, product manager. “We can assure you the correct pallet is pulled,” he says. “One of the problems, once the product is on a pallet, stretch-wrapped and labeled, is getting the operator to pick the correct product, and pick it in a first-in, first-out order, especially in a multi-level [storage] systems.”

That leads to scenarios higher up in the stack where, for example, bar codes can be illegible, or labeling falls off, Bryant says. “We pick a product, assign it a location, and assign it a number, virtually,” he says. “We put it in a location and track that until it is removed—until an order calls for it—without the need for physical markings.”

Third-party logistics provider Nexterus has partnered with on-demand warehousing and services platform Warehowz to produce what Ryan Polakoff, president of Nexterus, refers to as the “AirBNB of warehousing space.” The tool searches through Warehowz’s inventory of 2,500 locations and 23 million feet of square footage in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Customers can enter specifications on location, size, and other factors like temperature control, Polakoff says.

“Our team can search for the right location and size of a warehouse on the marketplace, negotiate contract terms, and set up automated invoicing,” he says. “Having the ability to find available warehouses from the extensive Warehowz database quicker means we improve efficiencies and lower costs by not having to do manual searches for warehouse space, and clients can get the space they need at the right time to improve inventory processes that lead to faster fulfillment and better customer service.”

With direct integration into an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, FlexiBake’s online ordering portal enables company-owned shops or franchises to place and manage deliveries without having to call their central commissary kitchen where products are made and distributed to retail and wholesale accounts, says Wayne Ortner, general manager of FlexiBake. Users also don’t need full access to the back-end of the manufacturing facility’s ERP systems, he adds.

Epson has rolled out Label Boost software that turns black-and-white shipping labels to color, which snack and bakery companies can use to leverage them for marketing and streamlining of warehouse operations, the company says. The software can help to highlight key information like parcel count or expedited shipping to improve the accuracy and timeliness of deliveries. Compatible with most Epson ColorWorks printers, the software retains the vast majority of the label creation process as it is, modifying the label at the very last step to reduce the hassle factor—and it works alongside existing shipping software.