Integrating WMS with Robotics and Automation

Integrating Warehouse Management Software (WMS) with Robotics and Automation

Applying the lessons from history to develop new warehousing and supply chain business strategies.

The growth of robotics and automation in warehousing and the wider supply chain shows no signs of slowing down. It is one of the five trends for warehouse management software (WMS) we highlighted in a previous article. 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. The Covid pandemic with its unique circumstances demonstrated how vulnerable supply chains can be to labour shortages at just the time when viable automated solutions were becoming available. Add the usual business pressures to cut costs, be more productive, innovate, add value and so on and it is easier to understand what has been driving recent growth.

One recent report estimates that the value of the global warehouse automation market was over $23bn last year and will undergo annual compound growth of around 15 percent to reach $41bn by 2027. Closer to home, a leading research company has predicted the UK market in warehouse automation will broadly treble between 2020 and 2025 to reach almost $4bn. In 2020, according to some reports, UK businesses invested more in these technologies than any other country. The pressures created by the Covid pandemic may have been one cause although another train of thought is that the UK is catching up with comparable economies following underinvestment in the preceding years. These headline figures are reflected in a report published by the UK Government which predicts strong growth in the uptake of robotics and automation over the next few years. The report estimates the share of work done in the sector by robots (measured by the number of robots per million hours worked) will have increased eight-fold by the middle of this decade and 100-fold by the mid-2030s from its starting point in 2020. Among the report’s conclusions is that this will increase productivity by almost a quarter over the same period.

The UK warehouse automation market will broadly treble between 2020 and 2025 to reach almost $4bn.

These systems are all aimed at providing some kind of competitive advantage in the warehouse or wider supply chain. While many will incorporate the aforesaid features it is likely they will all need to interface with some overarching supply chain management system. Depending on the circumstances and application requirement this could be WMS, ERP, SCE, or Multi-Agent Orchestration (MAO) applications. An increasing level of synchronisation between physical automation and digital management tools is propelling warehouses to new heights of efficiency. Advances in 2024 might include improvements to robotic guidance systems, leading to wider adoption across warehouses, and better integration with employees to enable use across all areas of the warehouse. This final point was reiterated in Gartner’s recent report on current trends in supply chain technology.

An increasing level of synchronisation between physical automation and digital management tools is propelling warehouses to new heights of efficiency.

WMS are themselves evolving to incorporate features with AI and BI capabilities. This includes the ability to make decisions based on increasingly complex business logic and react to, and even pre-empt, changing demands dynamically and in real time. This means that WMS and other applications are becoming more automated at the same time as the physical systems and infrastructures they control and interface with.

What does this mean for the way WMS is used and how it is integrated with this wider supply chain ecosphere? In many respects the core information that is handled by the WMS will not change, irrespective of what device or system is involved. The WMS will still need to track items as they enter, pass through, and leave the warehouse and much of that information will not change. However, in doing this core task they will probably need to access, manage, and process much more information than ever before. This information will be available from – and exchanged with – other applications. It will increasingly be managed using technologies such as blockchain which are inherently designed to carry more, and more detailed, information about the items with which they are associated. One Principal Logistics Technologies’ customer, for example, needs to track up 150 pieces of data associated with each pallet passing through its cold store in order to maintain the traceability needed for food industry regulatory compliance. This is far removed from basic “stock control” and indicates the type of heavy lifting some WMS already do.

On top of this WMS are now generating a lot more informationas they complete their day-to-day tasks. This includes, for example, data on when the item arrived, and from where, the time it spent in each location, what equipment and operatives completed each handling task, and details about the customers and destinations once it leaves the warehouse. This information can be used in a number of ways to increase productivity and efficiency and deliver new insights and innovations. Many warehouse operators are only beginning to recognise the possibilities. WMS are now able to process and analyse this information using AI and BI to provide insight and support the case for business change and improvement.

While the benefits are substantial, integrating robotics and automation is not without its challenges. The initial investment can be significant, and there is a learning curve involved in training staff to work alongside new technologies. Moreover, the integration process must be meticulously planned to ensure compatibility between different systems and technologies. It is important to select equipment and software that can communicate effectively, ensuring a seamless flow of information across all platforms. Most WMS are designed to work with a wide range of industry standards and commonly used formats (such as ASCII, EDI, Excel, XML, JSON etc) and incorporate tools such as APIs to support interconnectivity. That normally makes integration with other systems relatively easy. Even when existing and new systems rely on proprietary data formats it is usually possible to incorporate tools to translate this information to and from something that other applications can use.

As these technologies continue to evolve, they will offer even greater levels of efficiency, accuracy, and safety. This is not a trend but a strategic move that positions warehouses to meet the demands of the modern economy. If we have learned anything from the history of information technology, it is that developments can be rapid and unexpected before reaching some form of stability.

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