The Modern Warehouse: How to keep warehouse operations secure and future proofed.

In 2019, there were 4,000 robotic warehouses in operation worldwide. And latest research predicts 4 million commercial robots to be at work in 50,000 warehouses across the globe by 2025. That’s a 12-fold increase in the span of just six years.

The past 18 months has been a technology ‘catch up’ era. As a result of the vast increase in ecommerce, organisations have been struggling to keep up with the digitisation of the manufacturing and warehousing sector.

Now is the time for organisations to better plan – not just for the next emergency, but for the modern warehouse. What does this look like? Read on to find out two ways Renovotec and SOTI can help your business for 2022, and beyond.

Future proof your investments with Wi-Fi 6

Organisations may not be able to predict the next emergency or global pandemic. But the technology deployed today can be future-proofed, to prevent any undue additional network investment in a few years’ time. Renovotec has a strong heritage in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6, providing the best-in-class speed, wireless connectivity, and security. As a leading solutions partner, Renovotec now offers a unique consulting service known as the Warehouse Walkthrough. This service identifies the critical areas where technology tweaks and updates would provide a benefit.

“Warehouse walkthrough is a present day technology audit with the future business needs in mind. We create a unique service aligning all current technology and its uses, to where the company vision is and where the warehouse is evolving. This includes all end users and other tech teams that need to be involved. It is critical to get your technology and people more closely aligned for maximum productivity and greater return on investment,” says Carl Chapman, Group Marketing Manager, Renovotec UK.

In some cases, the warehouse walkthrough reveals a duplication of investment in people and technology. In these cases, Renovotec has found that warehouse walking time by can plummet by 50%. And that picking speed and accuracy can increase by as much as 35%. As well as consequent redeployment of staff to more high value tasks. Thus enabling a positive adoption of technology where it also replaces repetitive tasks.

“Our warehouse walkthrough service is designed to solve the current staffing problems faced by the industry. It is free, and timely, and we encourage supply chain companies to take advantage of it,” says Richard Gilliard, Renovotec CEO.

Staying connected: securely manage your devices and other peripherals

A Defining Year: The State of Mobility Report by SOTI, reports that 56% of organisations globally have grown their device fleet during the past 18 months. However they find these devices hard to manage. With many different settings, updates, and Operating Systems to incorporate, having a common platform to integrate and manage these devices means all device nuances (such a screen brightness) can be homogenised into one common platform. Thus allowing for ease of set up, configuration and speed of deployment.

Device doesn’t apply purely to smartphones, barcode scanners and handheld computers; this can also apply to printers. Part of the SOTI ONE Platform is SOTI Connect. A technology enabler allowing printers, to be easily managed, maintained, and supported remotely across the organisation. In a warehouse environment, this facilitates labelling. The humble label enables consistent inbound and outbound shipment of goods supporting ecommerce, as well as enabling data capture and flow up and down the entire supply chain.

SOTI and Renovotec’s partnership

“The challenge with printers, cameras and sensors in the warehouse is that not many organisations have a specific team responsible for the management and ongoing maintenance of these devices. They often feel these are managed by the manufacturer. SOTI Connect not only facilitates device recognition on the network from a security perspective, it also can tell you the exact location, make and model, as well as when latest software and firmware updates were installed. The remote support enables swift repair to keep customer operations moving,” says Sarah Edge, UK Sales Director, UK at SOTI.

SOTI Connect detects all devices on your network from the instant you start using it – even those devices you may not have known were connected to your network. This keeps your network secure and audit ready, managed, and secure. Thus enabling you to see when printers are jammed, when they have run out of paper and need fixing. As well as how frequently devices are breaking down. It also allows insight into valuable resources lost such as support time and impacted revenue. Being able to use SOTI Connect to receive network updates prior to an issue happening is even better. SOTI Connect also includes a visualisation tab in the platform. Therefore illustrating the exact device and where the issue is. And even includes a video of how to change the paper or unjam the ribbon if required to enhance remote user support.

“Our technology partnership with SOTI ensures our roadmaps are aligned and all devices we promote are ready to deploy with a comprehensive managed service offering. This compatibility ensures fast deployment and ease of migration to new technology,” says Richard Gilliard, CEO, Renovotec UK.

Footnotes

Download SOTI Report “ A Defining Year: The State of Mobility 2021”.

Request a free device rental discussion.

Request a free trial of SOTI Connect.

Contact us to discuss Wi-Fi 6.