As report of Keith Phillips, he predicted that retail will evolve more over the next five years, but most warehouse managers don’t need experts to know this fact. The rise of e-commerce already significantly altered the way companies fulfill orders. Especially, Vietnamese companies in logistics service field are taking steps to modernize both their warehouse technology to keep up with changes.
Basically, import-export market has been expanded, which results in new construction on bonded warehouses for lease; however, for this viewpoint, it is still in shortage over customers’ demands and considered as paradox. The paradox here is about management. The technology for warehouse management solutions have been generated and changed step-by-step to catch up with modern management. One of solutions is voice automation technology, which is growing as a faster, safer and more accurate alternative to paper and radio frequency (RF) scanner systems that can help companies keep up with the quickening pace of direct-to-consumer fulfillment. As more and more companies deploy voice, it’s important to make sure that they are choosing solutions that help facilities adapt to the changes that already affected the industry and ones that will happen in the future. The last time many companies installed warehouse technology, on-premise software was the best choice. In fact, many organizations have invested considerably in information technology (IT) staff, IT infrastructure to build, host, and maintain a WMS and additional technology. Any features that enterprises requested at installation were encoded into the system. Additionally, the technology that companies installed before the rise of e-commerce and direct-to-consumer fulfillment simply doesn’t offer the features warehouses now need. When companies implement new voice technology solutions in the warehouse, they need to consider how it performs on five criteria: 1. What’s the impact on the warehouse’s finances? One of the most serious issue of on-premise technology is the financial influence it takes on warehouses. Not only is it expensive to install the software, but expensive to build supporting infrastructure to host the solution on site and to make upgrades as the company’s needs change. 2. What’s the impact on the warehouse’s day-to-day workflow? Warehouses should also pay attention to the impact the software has on day-to-day workflows. In particular, companies want to find out solutions that allow them to adapt their workflows. It’s important to implement technology that allows warehouse operators to quickly and easily change and redesign workflows as the industry changes. 3. How easily does the solution interface with the WMS? Companies should look for technology solutions that easily link up with a WMS without requiring customers to do their own coding. One way to address this challenge is to look at cloud-based voice technology that eliminates the need for warehouses to invest in on-site IT. 4. How quickly can the solution become fully functional? With on-premise technology, building and installing the system can be a lengthy process. With old paper-based management systems, training staff and new hires can also take up valuable time. But with cloud-based voice, both installation and training are quick and easy, which allows companies to get up and running with new technology fast—sometimes in as little as 10 days. 5. How easy is it to make changes to the solution? The true cost of an on-premise solution is becoming apparent to many companies as they prepare to upgrade or replace the WMS. Not only is ripping out the technology an expensive and time-consuming process, but warehouses are also finding that replacing the WMS also means replacing the technology and functionality that was hard-coded into it. With the cloud, companies can make changes to their voice solution without having to worry about a negative ripple effect to other parts of the operation. For developed countries, five criteria above seem to be pretty effective, but it is contrast for Vietnamese warehousing companies. The tough drawback of companies providing warehousing service in general and bonded warehousing service in particular in Vietnam is that they are lack of many factors, not only management capabilities. Hence, considering five criteria above is worthless because many companies are afraid of changes. Some enterprises are taking steps to catch up with the pace of changes, and to generate more opportunities in their market, but it is restricted. Global and local market have been expanded tremendously, but the paradox of Vietnamese companies is not to have customers and not to have storage for orders fulfillment although so many warehouses have been built. It is high time to change, otherwise nothing new will be changed for Vietnamese warehousing market. |
Tan Tao Bonded WarehouseTel: (84) 28 3750 7074 / 75
Hotline: (84) 906 89 11 88 Contact: Mr. An Pham Time of posts
April 2017
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