Automation Appraisals Provide a Roadmap for Growth

While fulfillment centers have been adjusting to support e-commerce for years now, the massive impact that COVID-19 has had on the industry is evident. As a higher volume of smaller orders is coming in, when labor challenges affect the entire U.S. economy, expectations on expedited deliveries are rising, and companies are reacting with aggressive sales goals.

Projections are forcing companies to set goals at 20% — not just in a few years – but annually over the next years to come. When you’re factoring in all the changes needed now, next year, and further in the future, you need a roadmap that can guide you to help determine when different processes, people, and equipment are required to help you hit your goals.

At some level, when those aggressive sales goals are considered, automation makes sense to investigate because manual fulfillment methods require more manual labor to support that growth. If you don’t add automation, you increase your reliance on that labor, and at times like this – with the labor market being as unstable as it is – that is a business continuity risk that some companies cannot afford to make. After all, how can you plan with so many variables?

We’ve introduced our E.A.S.Y. Automation Appraisals as a way for companies to take a holistic look at their operations, business goals, and processes and identify areas where it makes sense to introduce automation at different levels. We look to build a roadmap to support business goals – not just now – but for years to come during these conversations. It is a “crawl, walk, run” approach to addressing labor challenges, increasing fulfillment capacity, and managing operational efficiency that can drive R.O.I.

A company would do an E.A.S.Y. Automation Appraisal because you know all the problems and challenges you face but do not have the correct solution. You may not be familiar with all of the products and processes out there. So, with these appraisals, we look at the customer’s data, SKU base, and projections. As these conversations progress, we get a clearer sense of the right solutions and send a few options that phase out challenges based on labor, budget, and business goals.

For us, these conversations are more than a consultation; they are investigations into your unique challenges and business goals. The solutions we provide companies buying a new building may be completely different from those provided to a company looking to retrofit its facility.

For instance, we understand that minimizing downtime is the biggest key to success in the transition time from your existing configuration to a new solution. We can’t have our clients stop their operations from installing upgrades. That is why we design, plan, and coordinate the logistics of the transition ahead of time – we can phase in these solutions as you’re running your business.

We are not here to sell products to our customers; we are here as partners to provide solutions that help hit – and exceed – business goals. Each of our clients has unique challenges. Do you need more dense storage? More throughput? Lower operational costs? The right solution for each challenge depends on budget, goals, and matching solutions to your challenges.

Our team is comprised of professionals with real operational experience in fulfillment, so we know how uncomfortable situations can be when times are challenging. After all, many companies can help you implement a complex system to improve fulfillment because it may work on a spreadsheet or in theory. But, if the operator doesn’t know how to use it to its fullest extent, then it may just be another obstacle you have to overcome.

We bring an operator-first perspective to the solutions we provide because, without that experience, we may not understand why a particular solution would solve a problem. We bring that perspective from design to installation and implementation in a true turnkey partnership.

Let’s Get Started!

Give us a call, whether you are interested in introducing automation, leveling up your fulfillment efforts, or just being overburdened by growth challenges. We can work with you to help build that roadmap to success in your operations. We can take a look at your challenges, look at the data, and offer a solution set to meet your challenges today with a path to meet tomorrow’s business goals.