Realize a zero-risk end-to-end transformation of your warehousing operations from billing to last mile with modular, cloud-based warehouse logistics solutions from Birlasoft.
In manufacturing and asset-intensive lines, warehouse logistics operations are closely tied to key strategic outcomes. Optimal warehousing operations can lend businesses a competitive edge by ensuring better customer experience, lower fulfillment costs, and better demand capture.
However, new and old challenges abound in warehousing operations. Ineffective digital solutions further exacerbate these challenges and become an unsustainable cost center for the enterprise. Birlasoft enables manufacturers to overcome these challenges and orchestrate efficient and optimal warehouse operations with nimble and cost-effective cloud-based solutions.
Overview
Warehouse operations have become significantly complex over the last few years. Rapid demand spikes, the explosion of ecommerce, and rising customer expectations place unprecedented pressure to optimize warehouse workflows. Moreover, rising competition creates cost pressures, and directly impacts top-level KPIs like profit margins and revenues.
Here are the key challenges that impede efficient warehousing operations in manufacturing:
- Demand uncertainty leads to stockouts or overstocking scenarios, resulting in losses.
- Lack of visibility and transparency in billing, leading to fulfillment cost fluctuations.
- Difficulty integrating warehouse logistics solutions with other business systems and SCM tools.
- Lack of standardization and existing inefficiencies in picking, packing, and shipping workflows.
- Rate uncertainties in spot contracts raise the cost of fulfillment in some areas.
- Unaided and manual picking in warehouses leads to inefficiencies and raises warehousing costs.
- Suboptimal usage of warehouse space and human resources.
Birlasoft offers targeted solutions that help manufacturers combat these challenges with repeatable success. Our cloud-based modular solutions bring critical capabilities for warehouse management, yard management, transportation management, global trade management, and fleet management. With our warehouse logistics solutions, we help manufacturers enhance digital maturity across the spectrum of their warehousing operations, thus driving up productivity, reducing costs, and enhancing competitiveness across their supply chain.
Value Proposition
Extensive domain expertise
and experience in leading complex transformations for global supply chains.
15+ years Oracle Partnership
and strong ties with key hyperscalers like Microsoft and AWS.
20+ cloud tools and accelerators
and proven technologies to fast-track Oracle Transport Management implementation and outcomes.
Diverse Fortune 500 clientele
with a success story to back each engagement.
Solution Features & Benefits
Cloud-based warehouse logistics solutions to accelerate core warehousing operations, enhance cost transparency, improve reliability, and optimize fleet operations.
Description
With lack of visibility into the tier-1 supplier, Manufacturing OEMs remain vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Establishing information exchange on inventory visibility of suppliers along with in-house warehouse inventory visibility would enable OEMs to better plan their plant production, shipment schedules thereby optimizing the end-to-end agile supply chain response.
Challenges
- Only 13% of manufacturers have complete supply chain mapping. Inadequate visibility into supplier inventory leads to production delays and customer dissatisfaction.
- Disjointed inventory management systems worldwide lack integration.
- Manual stocking decisions result in stock-outs, overstocking, or back-orders.
- Around 75% of manufacturers still rely on legacy systems that are not even automated.
Solution Features
- Inventory Optimization & Control.
- Global inventory data on cloud.
- Early warning alerts on upstream suppliers’ risks.
- Track Material Supply lead time.
- Optimizing production planning and scheduling.
- Dynamic Safety Stock Optimization.
- Informed Decision on Purchase Order.
Outcomes
- Improved top line & bottom line with faster time to market due to higher throughput.
- Lower production unused capacity costs with higher inventory visibility.
- High Fill rate due to less stock out scenarios.
- Visibility into Supplier lead time for efficient decision making.
- High Inventory Accuracy with faster reconciliation.
- High Production throughput with higher operational efficiency.
Description
Automate warehouse operations and accelerate pick, pack, and ship workflows with an integrated cloud-based solution.
Challenges
- Difficulty synchronizing warehouse operations with ERP and SCM, leading to a lack of visibility and context.
- Fragmented workflows and digital systems cause picking errors, delays, and slow processes.
- High costs associated with upgrading warehouse technology inhibit transformation initiatives.
- Lack of support for critical devices like barcode scanners within warehousing solutions.
Solution Features
- Integration with high-performance omnidirectional scanners to accelerate data capture.
- Availability of critical capabilities on smartphones and tablets lowers device costs and improves flexibility.
- Leverages existing warehouse technology infrastructure, and readily integrates with SCM and ERP systems.
- Smart glasses with visual workflows and voice assistance support enhance worker productivity.
Outcomes
- 30% Increased Productivity
- 40% Improved Picking Accuracy
- 25% Improved TAT
Description
Implement mature billing workflows in 3PL scenarios with automation and transparency using PaaS-based cloud solution.
Challenges
- Revenue leakage resulting from nonstandard workflows and provisional processes.
- Lack of transparency into financial performance and inability to support complex billing scenarios.
- Inability to integrate with 3rd party WMS and inventory management systems for transactions and logs.
Solution Features
- Supports full life-cycle management for 3PL rate agreements.
- Capabilities for new agreement creation, approval, renewal, extension, and termination.
- Readily integrates with Oracle WMS deployments or 3rd party WMS/inventory management systems.
- Automatic billing triggers at the end of cycle to prevent revenue leakage.
- Increase transparency with accurate activity-based billing to the customers.
- Supports various scenarios like fixed vs variable billing, dynamic billing cycles, etc.
Outcomes
- Reduced revenue leakage.
- Standardized billing processes.
- Increased customer trust.
Description
OTM add-on offering an e-bidding platform to receive cheaper transportation rates than contracted rates in spot markets.
Challenges
- Difficulty securing lower transportation rates than contracted rates consistently
- Lack of up-to-date information to support spot bid decisions.
- Complex and manual processes to manage bids and select carriers lead to delays.
Solution Features
- Makes run-time data from the OTM database accessible to vendors, who then open spot bids.
- Capabilities to help vendors open the ‘Spot bid’, and ‘Submit’ the bid after evaluating the ‘Buy Now’ prices.
- Available on both web and mobile platforms for easy bid placement within the logistics planner screen.
Outcomes
- Eases carrier selection on the go.
- Spurs carrier competition to provide better rates.
Description
Accelerate the warehouse operations like pick, pack, and ship with a Mobile application integrated with your ERP. The Mobile application integrates with your ERP in real time and helps increase the warehouse operations efficiency and reduce the time.
Challenges
- Difficulty in synchronizing the warehouse operations with ERP, leading to a lack of visibility and context.
- High costs associated with upgrading warehouse technology inhibits transformation initiatives.
- Lack of support for critical devices like barcode scanners within the warehousing solutions.
- Costly Warehousing solution are available in the market.
- Non availability of any solution in marketplace which offers lighter version of Warehousing solution.
Solution Features
- Built on open-source platform IONIC and JD Edwards Orchestrator so no additional license cost or infra investment which results in quicker ROI.
- Offers real-time exchange of data using JD Edwards Orchestrator without need of costly middleware solution.
- Single and lightweight solution covering all Warehousing application.
- Uses native mobile scanning, gesture control, biometric authentication if available on the mobile device.
- Solution can also be extended to scanning devices having Android platform.
- Faster to deploy as it is prebuilt and ready to use with minor tweaking to accommodate customer specific branding.
Outcomes
- 30% Increased Productivity
- 40% Improved Picking Accuracy
- 25% Improved TAT
Description
Smart glass-based hands-free warehouse picking solution for maximal speed and accuracy.
Challenges
- Manual picking processes lead to inaccurate inventory records and inspection processes.
- Manual picking process bottlenecks the number of orders that can be processed.
- Legacy processes necessitate swivel-chair data entry, which causes dated and inaccurate ERP data.
Solution Features
- Augmented reality solution with object detection enables a head-up visual workflow and offers voice assistance.
- Powers real-time and consistent capture of inspection data in warehouse operations.
- Maximizes order picking throughput and eliminates inventory errors and inconsistencies.
- Offers real-time integration with the ERP backend using robust connectors.
Outcomes
- 25% higher picking productivity
- 6X fewer picking errors
Description
Maximize fleet efficiency and reduce costs with real-time visibility into location, engineer and driver performance, and mileage data.
Challenges
- Underutilization of fleet and operational inefficiencies leading to high transport costs.
- High costs of maintenance due to frequent breakdowns and poor maintenance schedules.
- Excessive fuel consumption, and poor compliance and safety practices.
- Risk of theft of valuable assets, and high driver turnover due to poor working conditions.
Solution Features
- Integrates commercial vehicles with communication and sat-nav electronics.
- Online and offline tracking with Google Maps and GIS support.
- Real-time GPS updates, and instantaneous, on-demand engine diagnostics.
- Complete visibility into engine and driver performance and mileage.
Outcomes
- Reduced breakdown and improved on-time deliveries
- Maximal fleet efficiency and improved CSA scores.
- Enhanced asset security and lower maintenance costs.
Description
Unified platform to modernize trade agreement, trade compliance, and customs management workflows, augmented by global trade intelligence insights.
Challenges
- Navigating the complexity of global trade laws and changing regulations.
- Managing and tracking cost factors associated with global trade, like customs, tariffs, duties, and compliance costs.
- Mitigating exposure to trade risks, screening sanctioned parties, and submitting import-export declarations.
Solution Features
- Capabilities to manage legal and regulatory cross-border trade and transactions and monitor trade metrics against targets.
- Gain complete visibility into trade risks and trade costs, enabling continuous improvement.
- Standardize workflows to capture duty savings, facilitate supplier collaboration, and analyze BoMs to qualify for free trade agreements.
- Facilitate partner and customer collaboration and automate customs filing processes.
- Embargo and restricted party screening to maximize trade compliance.
Outcomes
- Unify and streamline cross-border trade workflows.
- Maximize efficiency, gain visibility, and reduce trade compliance costs.
- Centralize the trade compliance function and reduce incidents of violations.
Description
RTLS solution for detecting possible collision scenarios in warehouse movements with sub-meter accuracy.
Challenges
- High risk of collision for PIVs in dynamic and busy warehouse environments.
- PIVs create a safety risk for warehouse workers and machines.
- Collision scenarios can undermine investment in mobility automation solutions.
Solution Features
- Employs adaptive dynamic risk assessment algorithms to detect possible collisions.
- Forecasts collision scenarios for ‘Man-Machine’, ‘Machine-Machine’ & ‘Machine-Infrastructure’ situations.
Outcomes
- Mitigate Risk
- 25% increase in Man/ Machine safety
- 24 X 7 X 365 coverage
FAQs
Modern warehouse logistics solutions offer improved efficiency, cost savings, and enhanced visibility. They help streamline operations, reduce errors, and provide real-time data, which leads to better decision-making and customer satisfaction along with maintain the compliance status.
These solutions provide real-time tracking and automated inventory management, reducing the risk of stockouts and overstocking. They ensure accurate inventory levels, which helps in maintaining optimal stock and meeting customer demands promptly.
Technologies such as IoT, RFID, storage and retrieval System, automated guided vehicles and AI are commonly used in warehouse logistics. These technologies enhance tracking, automate processes, and provide predictive analytics, leading to more efficient and intelligent warehouse operations.
Most modern warehouse logistics solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with existing ERP and supply chain management systems. This integration ensures a smooth flow of information across all business functions, enhancing overall efficiency.
They address challenges such as lack of visibility, Managing Working Capital, manual errors, and inefficiencies in picking, packing, and shipping. By automating these processes, businesses can reduce errors, save time, and improve overall productivity.
Real-time tracking and efficient inventory management lead to faster order fulfillment and higher customer satisfaction. By ensuring timely and accurate deliveries, warehouse logistics solutions help meet customer expectations.
These solutions help reduce labor costs through automation, optimize warehouse space, and minimize errors that can lead to costly returns or delays. Overall, they contribute to significant cost savings and improved profitability.
They provide real-time data and analytics on inventory levels, shipment status, and warehouse operations. This visibility helps businesses make informed decisions, respond quickly to changes, and maintain a smooth supply chain flow and provide better services to customers.
The key solutions/accelerators are mentioned below:
- BsupplyConnect: Facilitates information exchange on inventory visibility of suppliers and in-house warehouse inventory, enabling OEMs to better plan plant production and shipment schedules, thus optimizing the end-to-end agile supply chain response.
- Warehouse Management Extended (WMX): Automates warehouse operations and accelerates pick, pack, and ship workflows with an integrated cloud-based solution.
- Light Warehouse Solution: Enhances warehouse operations like pick, pack, and ship with a mobile application integrated with your ERP.
Ready to transform your warehousing operations?
Birlasoft experts are ready to work with you.