FINAL WORD energy , light and machines , and used for safety , predictive maintenance and facility management to improve situational awareness in and around the warehouse . Asset tracking , condition monitoring and indoor precise positioning are three elements that are also crucial to the warehouse of the future .
It gives the warehouse operations full visibility of their supply chain which enables them to understand the estimated time of arrival of assets to warehouses , diagnosing unhealthy or disrupted supply chains and provide improved customer service .
Through precise indoor positioning , warehouse operators can improve the safety of personnel and know the location and safety of their assets .
Advanced analytics in turn can assist the warehouse operator in using data to make real-time decisions and further improve productivity .
To support the adoption of warehouse IIoT will require secure , reliable data connectivity and communications , yet many existing warehouse networks are holding back operations rather than enhancing them .
An annual survey of distribution centres by St . Onge6 , a supply chain consulting firm , shows that approximately 80 % of warehouses in the United States are manually operated with no supporting automation , 15 % are mechanised and just 5 % are highly automated .
The benefits of warehouse automation improvement in throughput and productivity , ensures maximum uptime and reduces costs .
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