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Robots and other forms of automation are gaining converts in warehouses and
DCs because of their ability to cut operating costs and deliver consistent performance. Too many companies, though, fall into the costly trap of “automating
for automation’s sake,” warns David Riffel, solutions consulting director at
TAKE Supply Chain, a developer of supply chain collaboration and data collection software solutions.
In a recent interview, Riffel outlined seven strategies for getting a solid return
on investment (ROI) while avoiding “automation overkill”:
1. Don’t use automation to fix a process problem. Before you automate, make
sure all processes are as efficient as they can be. Otherwise, automation will only
make a bad process happen faster.
2. Match complexity with capability. A small operation with a limited number of
products and customers may not be able to properly deploy a complex application and is unlikely to get an adequate ROI.
3. Strive to get “most of the benefits without all of the automation.” A phased
approach to implementation lets you assess the improvements achieved in each
step before you move on to the next one. The aim is to avoid automating something that won’t benefit enough from it to justify the cost.
4. Automate for agility. Automating processes that are prone to human error or
require waiting for human responses shortens overall cycle times. Those shorter
leadtimes let you be more agile and responsive to unexpected change.
5. Don’t force mature automation on developing regions. Automation has little
chance of success where there are limitations like spotty access to electricity or
inadequate technical support. In a culture that highly values face-to-face communication, moreover, automation can undermine trust in business relationships.
6. Don’t over-automate just because you can. It’s easy to get caught up in automation’s “cool factor” and end up with expensive features you don’t really need
or understand. The result will be an unacceptable ROI.
7. Think strategically about automation. Instead of looking at automation just as
a way to reduce costs and boost efficiency, think about how it could give your
business a competitive advantage and support its strategy. Automation should
support human decision making, not entirely replace it, Riffel said.
How to avoid “automation overkill”
Rugged yet lightweight plastic pallets are often used in closed-loop supply chain networks. Those characteristics, though, also
make plastic pallets appealing to thieves.
One way to make plastic pallets less vulnerable to theft is to make
them a bright color that can be easily seen and identified. Pallet makers and
rental pool companies generally have stuck with black, blue, and sometimes red.
But Vienna, Ohio-based Litco International says it has a better choice: hot pink.
Litco recently introduced a high-visibility 48- by 40-inch pink plastic pallet
that will definitely stand out from the crowd in any DC. According to product
specialist Joseph Morella, the pink color is more than a new theft-prevention
tactic: It also raises money for breast cancer awareness and research. The company will donate $2 from the sale of each pink pallet to the Breast Cancer Research
Foundation. The pallets have a 2,000-pound capacity and are FDA- and USDA-approved for use with pharmaceutical products.
Pretty (visible) in pink
Maersk Line’s recent
announcement that it had
spun off its intra-Americas
services to form an independent carrier was hardly
surprising from a business
standpoint. But the Danish
shipping giant’s choice of
“SeaLand” as the name of
the new company, which
begins service in early 2015,
did come as a surprise.
The announcement
undoubtedly sparked some
reminiscences among the
legions of Sea-Land Service
alumni scattered throughout the shipping industry.
Their alma mater, which for
many years was a dominant
force in container shipping,
was acquired by Maersk in
1999. The merged company was called Maersk Sea-Land until the Sea-Land
name was dropped in 2006.
Why resurrect that historic
moniker now? According to
Maersk spokesman Timothy
R. Simpson, Craig Mygatt,
a longtime Maersk executive who will serve as CEO
of the new carrier, decided to revive the brand after
discovering on trips abroad
that customers still associated him with Sea-Land rather
than Maersk.
Maersk is not the first carrier to bring a respected old
name back from the dead,
as it were. US Lines, a container line based in Long
Beach, Calif., that serves the
trans-Pacific market, calls to
mind once-mighty United
States Lines, a major global
player that met its demise in
1986.
Maersk resurrects
iconic name
