Automation in the warehouse

The processes that take place in a warehouse are still supported by a lot of paperwork to date. Think of pick lists, to-do lists, order tickets, etc. Much of the information on these paper documents sometimes changes or may not be up-to-date; a well-known problem in warehouses to be able to work efficiently. Users of GreenCommerce also face these kinds of problems and to this day experience the consequences of the immutability of paper worklists.

A few years ago, a first attempt was made to capture the processes that take place in the warehouse in an application that runs on scanners. As a result, the handling of paper work lists was done via the scanners based on scanning barcodes. The possibilities of applications that run on windows-CE devices (such as the scanners) are limited and do not come anywhere near the possibilities that are currently available on mobile devices (phones, tablets, ...). Not in terms of technology or user-friendliness. Enough reason for us to look for a new solution.

ELMO
After an extensive inventory (of the processes automated by GreenCommerce that take place in warehouses) and various brainstorming sessions, ELMO was developed. ELMO stands for 'Easy Logistic Mobile Operator' and is available as an online web app. Due to the techniques used, the web app feels like native and you can add it to your 'home screen' and even receive push notifications. In addition, the web app has been set up in such a way that any type of device can make use of it (telephone, tablet, desktop) as long as you have a connection to the internet. User-friendliness has played the most prominent role during development. Every user must be able to do his / her work in a simple manner without explanation and record what is going on in a warehouse without too many actions. The consequence of this is reflected in the design and user interaction that uses the best practices of Google's Material Design (which makes the app quickly feel 'familiar').

Pick lists

During the development of ELMO, the focus was placed on the processes surrounding the picking of orders and production orders. Users get a clear and simple overview of the task list assigned to them and can handle it in a user-friendly way. In GreenCommerce, pick lists can be divided among users, after which each user will see his own overview. In addition to a clear overview, suggestions can be requested of the goods (and associated pallet locations) that may be picked, this is very useful if pallets are recorded at exact locations.

Pallet information
In addition to the task list for order pickers, pallet information plays an important role within ELMO. It is easy to request the exact information for each pallet and then carry out actions such as moving, building, mixing, or printing stickers. From every screen where you are as a user, you can go directly to the pallet information, or view one of the last viewed pallets again.

Chat
The range of mobile telephones in warehouses can sometimes be somewhat less because of, for example, steel structures or cold stores. WiFi range, on the other hand, is often good within a warehouse, which offers opportunities to communicate with other users. In our opinion, users need a way to communicate from the app in which they are currently working. The result is a chat option that uses the well-known sticky notes from GreenCommerce to send messages to each other. New messages immediately provide notifications (if the app is open) or push notifications (if the app is closed for a while).

Future?
With the realization of ELMO, a significant improvement has been made in the possibilities of working digitally in warehouses. In the future, we plan to add more features to the application, mainly focused on allowing employees in a warehouse to function optimally and to provide them with the necessary, up-to-date information they need to perform the work. Think, for example, of smart features to allow the system to automatically determine the required pallets to be picked, voice picking, or RTLS.

Do you want to know more? Please contact us to discuss the possibilities.