Pallet tracking is an essential element of modern warehouse management. With the development of e-commerce and the growing demand for accurate and quick order fulfillment, warehouses are experiencing increased challenges in terms of optimizing their operations.
Given this, the management should pay increased attention to tracking pallets in the warehouse, which can increase the overall efficiency of the company.
Technologies for implementing a tracking system
Warehouse pallet tracking allows you to control products in real time. Depending on the area of the warehouse, the number of pallets, and other features of the enterprise, technologies such as Bluetooth® Low Energy, UWB, or RFID can be used to implement tracking.
Bluetooth® Low Energy
Bluetooth® Low Energy is one of the most effective and sought-after tracking technologies. Tracking pallets with it requires beacons and tags that are installed on the pallets and send out signals at a certain cadence. Special readers capture these signals and then send them to the server, where they are processed to obtain real-time positioning and movement information.
The positioning accuracy of Bluetooth® Low Energy is about 3 ft. The system boasts low power consumption, low implementation costs, and high data security.
UWB
UWB is an ultra-wideband technology based on the transmission of high-frequency signals over short distances. The system provides high positioning accuracy within the range of 4-20 inches. Ultra Wideband also has low power consumption and is reliable in tracking, but it requires a higher implementation cost compared to Bluetooth® LE.
RFID
RFID is a radio frequency identification system that reads radio signals from special RFID tags. Each pallet is tagged with a unique identifier. When needed, warehouse workers use a reader that receives radio signals and determines the characteristics of the products.
The system is similar to barcodes, but it’s tags can be overwritten and read without a line of sight. Because of these capabilities, RFID is often used to scan moving pallets or to identify a large number of objects at the same time.
Opportunities for warehouses when implementing a pallet tracking system
Using pallet tracking solutions opens up many opportunities for companies. Using this system, you can quickly find pallets in the warehouse area, track their movement, eliminate the possibility of theft, and collect detailed analytics to optimize business processes.
Real time pallet tracking
Pallets that are tagged or labeled can be easily tracked in real time. To get a visual representation of the location of the pallets, a control panel is displayed on a smartphone or a PC. If needed, you can perform the following tasks:
- controlling the movement of pallets around the warehouse;
- performing their accurate counting;
- determining the storage deadlines.
Another useful feature is notifying staff in case of the wrong pallet location. If it leaves the current location, warehouse workers immediately receive a notification.
Quick search for the right pallets on the map
According to statistics, approximately 19% of working time in warehouses is spent searching for assets. A warehouse pallet tracking system helps resolve this issue. After its implementation, any pallet can be quickly found on the digital map, which helps staff members save time.
Using the system, managers not only find the right product but also get an idea of the status of order fulfillment. This way, you can easily find out how many pallets are ready to be sent to the buyer.
Push notifications to prevent theft
Pallet tracking helps prevent theft on time. If any pallet leaves the warehouse, the platform immediately generates an audio notification or sends a corresponding push message to the warehouse workers. Thanks to this solution, unnecessary costs associated with the unauthorized movement of products outside the warehouse can be avoided.
Analytics and accounting
A useful feature of the pallet tracking system is the collection of analytics, which allows managers or supervisors to receive comprehensive information. The platform collects data about the current location of the pallets, movement history, and other useful information.
With tracking, you can keep an accurate record of pallets, track their number in warehouses, and also determine the number of lost or damaged objects. Expanded analytical data allows you to manage inventory and optimize the location of products within the warehouse.
Benefits of using pallet tracking
Introducing indoor tracking provides businesses with a wide range of benefits. The main advantages of using the system are an increase in the efficiency of the warehouse, easier product management, and instant response to emergencies.
Improving work efficiency
By using a warehouse pallet tracking system, you can improve the efficiency of the warehouse. Staff will always know where certain pallets are located, can easily find them in the warehouse area, and save time on searching for products. This information significantly reduces the loading/unloading time, which increases the competitive advantages of the company and improves customer satisfaction.
Additionally, the technology helps track the location of pallets sent to suppliers. Pallets are often sent to the manufacturer and then returned as containers. The system accurately counts the pallets that have been shipped and carries out accounting within the warehouse area.
Rapid incident response and budget savings
Through asset tracking, you can quickly respond to any emergency. Loss, theft, damage to pallets – all these incidents are now easily preventable and occur much less frequently. Thanks to a quick response to an emergency, you can minimize the cost of buying new pallets and save the overall budget.
Simplifying product/cargo management
With this technology, it’s possible to effectively control warehouse stocks. The system provides detailed information about the storage, the history of product movement, and shelf life, which allows you to avoid shortages or excess products. Having real-time information gives management the ability to:
- respond in time to changes in demand;
- exclude disruption of the supply chain;
- maintain a high quality of customer service;
- keep the goods in order;
- make the right decisions in pricing, increasing profits, and reducing costs.
To sum up, a pallet tracking system makes it possible to simplify the work of staff and optimize warehouse processes. After you implement one into the company’s infrastructure, you can save time searching for the right products, provide easier inventory management, and prevent theft or loss.
Article and permission to publish here provided by Daniel Davis. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on May 31, 2023.
Cover image by Zoltan Matuska from Pixabay.