D IG ITA L T E C H N O L O G I E S
The Time for Digitalization Has Arrived
As warehouses prepare for the holidays, even small steps toward digitalization can have a significant impact on operations.
By Amanda Honig
T
here’s no mistaking the fact that small businesses are
the lifeblood of the American economy. 47% of all em-
ployees in the United States, or 60 million people, are
employed by small businesses. Small business owners
create two-thirds of net new jobs and are responsible for driving
nearly 44% of economic activity in the country. Often overlooked
as technology leaders, small businesses are rapidly changing that
perception as many—especially small warehouse operators—pre-
pare for the second e-commerce-driven holiday season.
Analysts predict that e-commerce will generate 18.9% of holiday
retail sales in 2021. As more consumers do their shopping online,
supply chain challenges are expected to continue adding pressure
to an already stressed workforce. Smaller warehouse operators are
increasingly embracing technology and augmenting workers with
automated technology solutions. Their ultimate goals are to boost
hiring and employee retention, automate smart workflows, improve
inventory visibility and management, and protect both operations
and customer data with enhanced cybersecurity measures.
THE WAREHOUSE RECRUITMENT CHALLENGE
Despite more people entering the workforce, warehouses of all
sizes face a labor shortage that threatens output and, eventually,
customer satisfaction. In Zebra’s most recent Warehousing Vision
Study, 60% of surveyed IT and operational decision-makers cited
recruitment as a significant operational challenge.
PRODUCT CARTS
COMPARTMENT CARTS
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Many larger companies may be leveraging perks like signing bo-
nuses, subsidized education, and higher wages to attract new talent,
creating stiff competition for the average small business looking to
hire. Technology can be a differentiating factor for small- and medi-
um-size warehouses in attracting and retaining talent. This differen-
tiation is even more salient as the existing workforce ages and digital
natives come to the fore. Prospective employees expect a tech-en-
abled workplace because they already depend on mobile devices and
constant connectivity in their personal lives.
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These expectations often translate to jobseekers choosing
workplaces where they can rely on technology to improve their
productivity and make everyday tasks easier to complete. Ware-
house leaders reported that it takes an average of 4.5 weeks for
workers to reach full productivity. Mobile devices and task-spe-
cific applications can speed up and supplement the training pro-
cess, getting new employees up to speed faster.
FOSTERING MUTUALLY-
BENEFICIAL EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE
RELATIONSHIPS
Satisfied and supported employees also tend
to be more invested in the company and their in-
dividual performance. While physical safety re-
mains paramount in the warehouse environment,
new priorities have arisen in the wake of the pan-
demic. Technology plays a vital role in keeping
front-line workers safe and healthy.
Many operators of small warehouses are opti-
mizing their workers’ mobile computers, tablets
and wearables for the current pandemic reality
with software that monitors social distancing to
alert them—and managers—when they are too
close to others for an extended length of time.
These operators are also opting more for rugged
devices that can stand up to intense sanitization.
Most devices in the warehouse are used by dif-
ferent workers throughout the day, so they must
be cleaned often which, at a minimum, would be
before and after workers check them out at the
start and end of a shift.
In today’s forward-thinking warehouse and
logistics environments, front-line workers are
invaluable. They are also much more than just
warehouse employees in the traditional sense—
they’re tech operatives as well. The devices work-
ers use may not require coding or extra school-
11/27/21 10:42 AM
 ing, but they serve an important, high-tech function all the same. PRIORITIZING CYBERSECURITY risk of over-investment in IT staffing or duplicate security tools.
What’s more, employees are learning technical prowess on the job For example, many devices built for warehouses allow for unique
that is more valuable than the warehouse dynamic of the past, giv- Warehouse operators must remain aware of security risks and user privileges, which is one of the easiest ways to help protect
ing businesses a leg up on other warehousing jobs that may still prioritize digital safety measures both before and after implemen- sensitive data shared on those devices. They also connect to ser-
rely on manual operations. tation of new technology. Those who don’t know where to start vices that can help automate regular software updates and security
should ask their technology solution provider for help. They can patches to provide additional protection. MH&L
IMPLEMENTING AUTOMATION point out security features that may be built into mobile devices
Automating manual processes is essential to driving competitive and software to help warehouse operators’ IT teams and front-line Amanda Honig is SMB industry lead with Zebra Technologies
advantage in today’s warehousing landscape. Automation may seem workers manage the frequent security updates that will be required (www.zebra.com), a provider of enterprise-level data capture
like a big concept that is difficult for any warehouse—especially small to reduce the risk of costly attacks. They will also help reduce the and automatic identification solutions.
warehouses—to achieve in a short time frame, but
small steps can lead to big improvements.
As warehouse operations mature, automa-
tion simply refers to the bundling of separate
technologies to better solve problems and free
up workers to concentrate on higher-order
tasks. Automated warehouse operations can
integrate workforce management, inventory

Finders,
management and asset management, to name
just a few, for a more holistic view of what’s
happening across the facility.

keepers?
A MORE EFFICIENT AND SELF-
SUFFICIENT WORKFORCE
A mobile workforce is a more empowered
one. Technology plays a major role in improv-

Not this time.

ing employee self-sufficiency and job satisfac-
tion, especially if it can automate tasks and de-
cision-making that would otherwise slow down
workers or lead to mistakes. Giving them the
right software tools, along with mobile devices
designed for warehouse use, helps them move
more easily through tasks. It also helps ensure
accuracy during receiving, putaway, picking,
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packing and shipping processes.
For many warehouses, the inventory man-
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agement process is the most important priority
to tackle and perhaps the easiest place to start. fifififipropfirfiyfioffiCHEP.
It has never been easier to apply barcoded la-
bels or radio frequency identification (RFID)
tags to every item, and new technologies make
it simple to read both with a simple trigger pull,
or even in an automated manner. Fixed indus-
trial scanners and RFID readers have become Don't get caught blue-handed.
simple to install, use and manage in the past
couple of years, and they can push data in re- CHEP pallets cannot be bought,
al-time to workers that need it. sold, exchanged, traded or discarded.
Once workers know exactly where to go to
locate inventory and pick orders and what to do Return blue pallets directly to CHEP
next, they can quickly pivot between tasks. In to limit supply chain waste and
turn, they’ll spend more time getting things done
and less time walking around the warehouse
avoid penalties.
looking for individual items. These savings are
significant throughout the grueling holiday sea-
son when every minute saved counts.
These same technologies also make it easy
for warehouse supervisors, as well as supply Visifificollficfi.cfifip.cofifififiyCHEP.cofi
chain partners and customers, to track the orficallfi866-855-2437fiforfiquickfiafififi
progress of each order so they don’t have to fiasyfipickupfioffiblufifiwoofifipallfifis. © 2021 CHEP
chase someone down for an update—saving
time and resources.

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