By Jon Roberts, Head of Sales at OrderWise: Handheld technology is no longer a far-fetched investment in warehouse operations, but sadly, many SMEs still fear it’s out of their reach.
There are numerous reasons why onboarding such technology is beneficial to workflow and overarching operations. What’s more, the increase in picking accuracy and decrease in customer complaints makes it financially viable for the majority of businesses, as well as plenty of additional benefits that aren’t often spoken about.
Real-time visibility
In my opinion, a huge benefit of handheld terminals (HHTs) is the real-time visibility they provide the picking operation.
With wireless synchronisation, your pickers can easily see notifications and work assignments on their device in real-time, so they can take action when new picks arrive in their feed. This way, the management team can be sure nothing is missed, while the pickers can get on with their jobs without interruption.
Freeing up management
This works the other way, too. With paper-based operations, daily supervision is required to ensure pickers are redirected as and when priorities change. Because paper lists can’t be updated, supervisors spend much of their time rallying up staff on the warehouse floor.
Using pick rules on HHTs, pickers become self-efficient through automated assignment of picks and built-in priority technology, even when their assignment is complete. For example, if your picker was assigned to items with a 24-hour delivery slot, they will automatically move onto 48-hour delivery slots upon completion, allowing the business to efficiently meet the correct timescales for their customers.
Onboarding staff
As we head into the Christmas season, many warehouse managers will be onboarding seasonal staff to help with peaks in their operation. It might seem that technology of this kind will lead to additional training due to its complexity, but that simply isn’t the case.
HHTs generally operate just like a phone, with more up-to-date models operating like the smartphone you have at home. New recruits can simply pick up a device, turn it on and get to work without a lengthy meeting to determine priorities for the day, allowing for a faster and smoother onboarding process.
Keep going all shift
Another great thing about the modern day HHT is that the battery lasts. One of the hardware solutions we provide for our customers has a 14-hour battery life, meaning pickers can work a double shift without interruption. What’s more, the devices easily connect to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other networks for complete usability.
Improved efficiency
The best bit? You might not need to recruit more pickers with handheld technology. Your staff will be completing more jobs than ever before, so you won’t need as many pickers on shift, reducing the cost per each order filled.
Handheld technology is more than just a barcode-scanner that makes things quicker. If you want to truly revolutionise the way your management, pickers and operation works, it’s time to take the plunge and invest in technology that will future-proof your operations.
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