Integrating Warehouse Management Software (WMS) with Robotics and Automation

The growth of robotics and automation in warehousing and the wider supply chain shows no signs of slowing down. These technologies offer the prospect of increased productivity, improved efficiency, greater capacity, safer workplaces, and reduced costs. But they rarely fulfil their maximum potential without being part of a wider transformation that is likely to include upgraded WMS and advances in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Intelligence (BI).

The truth is there is nothing new about automation and robotics in the warehouse.

Conveyors, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and automatic pallet wrappers are among the many different forms that have been around for some while. The difference now, potentially, is that these technologies are evolving to incorporate new capabilities at the same time as AI and BI are becoming more mainstream. Combining these can result in systems that are more sophisticated, incorporating features to support greater autonomy, provide new insights to support innovation, smarter decision making, and more adaptability among others.

In this eBook, we explore the changing role of robotics and automation in the warehouse, the evolution of working practices and the operational efficiencies these advances in technology are helping to facilitate, including:

• Improvements in robotic guidance systems leading to better integration with employees (Multi-Agent Orchestration) and wider adoption in warehouses.
• Advances in AI and BI within Warehouse Management Systems leading to the ability for the system to make decisions based on increasingly complex business logic.
• The growth of data gathered by and exchanged between the various systems within the warehouse in real-time leading to efficiency gains and increased automation.

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