E-commerce warehousing
Efficient inventory management is essential for e-commerce businesses due to the rapid growth of online sales, shorter product lifecycles, and higher customer expectations for order fulfillment. Automated storage systems with smart logistics capabilities, along with high flexibility in supply chain technology, are vital to ensuring the success of today’s fulfillment service warehousing businesses.
Comprehensive inventory management contributes to smooth, coordinated, and synchronized warehousing and fulfillment processes for handling incoming goods and returned items, not to mention optimal order picking and shipping operations. Hänel has decades of experience and proven know-how when it comes to automated systems that support modern order fulfillment centers.
E-commerce warehousing solutions must satisfy special requirements in order to be successful. Precise coordination of all interrelated processes is necessary in order to achieve a streamlined order fulfillment process. This, in turn, will minimize the time between when the order is received by the consumer and delivered from the retailer.
Customers increasingly demand fast delivery times, such as same-day delivery or predefined dates and times. As a result, businesses must focus on innovative warehouse management solutions that will help them narrow the gap between reducing costs and focusing on the customer. In this way, they can strive to be better than the competition.
E-commerce warehousing and fulfillment can be approached in many different ways, such as presorting customer orders in Click & Collect concepts. Drop shipping and a strategic returns and recycling concept can also be realized successfully with intelligent e-logistics.
E-commerce storage – automated e-logistics for online shops
Automated storage solutions can be a strategic asset for your supply chain, boosting efficiency and productivity. These solutions support optimal coordination and synchronization of fulfillment processes, including e-fulfillment. They usually consist of:
- Flexible rack shelving
- Automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) for putting and picking inventory items
- Handling equipment
This technology allows fulfillment companies to combine all kinds of warehouse storage and management systems, creating holistic solutions that can be tailored to specific needs. This includes:
- Conventional warehouses
- High-bay silo warehouses
- Automated warehouses tailored to product features
- Compact storage systems with direct access or channels
- Automated pallet shuttle systems
- Robot-driven warehouses and cold storage
Hänel offers high-tech solutions such as the Lean-Lift® and Rotomat® systems for intelligent storage that satisfies all of the requirements for modern intralogistics and fulfilment. Warehouse organization and fulfillment service go hand in hand. Much like a high-bay solution, the Hänel vertical carousel and the Hänel vertical lift fully utilize the height available in a warehouse. The Hänel Lean-Lift® and Rotomat® systems are the leading solutions in today’s marketplace, offering up to 60% more storage capacity than a miniload system having the same footprint. Maximum storage volume within a minimal footprint is possible, as well as access to all items from a single retrieval point.
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E-commerce warehouse management systems
An efficient warehouse management system (WMS) is crucial for today’s businesses to maintain a competitive edge, particularly in the B2B sector. By centralizing various software applications in one WMS, logistics processes such as inventory management and warehousing can be efficiently coordinated. Upstream and downstream processes, such as confirmation of payment transactions and transfer of shipments to delivery services, can also be included.
Hänel storage systems are designed for seamless integration with customer systems using Hänel controllers equipped with a SOAP web service interface. This allows businesses to streamline their operations and provide superior customer service.
Hänel’s web-based and middleware-free link between the Hänel controller and many kinds of ERP solutions – for example, SAP – offers quite a number of benefits for companies:
- Maximum standardization of labeling and packaging processes, not to mention systems for transparent traceability
- Smart site management with short routing within the e-commerce warehouse
- Faster early stages of the picking process through clever site organization
- Leveraged potential of one’s own picking methods and e-commerce storage
- Automated calculation of optimal picking sequences is possible based on flexible variables such as urgency or transport routes
- Usage of the pick-by-light system to support picking minimizes errors and enables equal and consistent task assignments among employees for more overall productivity in e-commerce storage
- Customized and modern solutions for online shops – Click & Collect, Buy Online, Pick-Up in Store or Drop Shipping – which keep the sales and logistics processes separated
The right warehouse management system can make a big difference in your ecommerce business. By coordinating order fulfillment and put and pick processes, you can dramatically reduce downtime and losses due to a lack of material.
The program gathers and analyzes various kinds of data for e-commerce logistics – including storage position, article master data, storage costs, shelf life, batch numbers, price lists, serial numbers, customer and delivery data, pick lists, goods received and goods shipped. This gives you the information you need to make informed decisions about your business.
Advantages of the Hänel Lean-Lift® system
The Hänel Lean-Lift® is a professional storage solution that combines rationalization and protection of stored items. At the heart of the closed-loop system concept is the IT-driven extractor, which – in combination with the Hänel profile wall – makes height-optimized storage on the Hänel multifunction containers possible. The extractor automatically finds specific storage positions within the system and brings the requisite containers to the access point, which is ergonomically designed to make item retrieval less strenuous. High speed, reliability, space-saving integration, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and clear user guidance are additional characteristics of the Hänel Lean-Lift®. With this system, you will be able to reduce costs and improve picking performance. Hänel controllers come with integrated warehouse management systems, making inventory access faster and easier. You can also add special options in response to specific customer requests or requirements. One example is EcoDrive® technology for smart energy recovery.
Advantages of the Hänel Rotomat® system
The Hänel Rotomat® is a highly innovative storage system that can provide up to 60% more storage space than traditional designs. The sheet-steel construction of the system housing is inspired by the cellular structures used in the aircraft industry, resulting in a durable and sturdy design. Twin three-phase motors ensure smooth yet powerful performance when bringing items stored on system carriers to the access point.
The sliding carriage principle behind the carrier suspension of the Rotomat® makes for smooth and reliable system operation with minimum wear and tear. If system faults should occur, the Rotomat® can still be operated until the service engineer arrives thanks to the Safety Bypass System.
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