Why Your Warehouses Need Dimensioning And Weighing Solutions In 2021?

Warehouse

Let’s face it. In the world of warehousing, space = money. Unless you are smart with how you utilize space and effort in your warehouses and fulfillment center operations, you may run into a dead-end, as far as profitability is concerned. Especially if your operations involve warehouses, trucks, trailers, shipping containers, and aircraft cargos. 

No matter the market, supply chain processes can be painstaking journeys. They involve multiple moving parts like slotting, cartonization, quality control, and shipping. Even if one of these parts gets disrupted, your business feels the pressure. With the global pandemic clouding an already-unpredictable industry, the future may be a lot more uncertain unless you have the right technologies in place.

However, determining the correct size of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) is just half the battle. When you have cutting-edge dimensioning and weighing capabilities in place, you can increase workforce productivity and decrease expenses, including dunnage costs. 

At the end of the day, dimensioning and weighing means saving money, driving margins, and profitability by optimizing functions. From picking, packing, and storage to shipping, and distribution, it comprises several building blocks that help manage warehouse operations.

Traditional vs. automated dimensioning

Traditional methods of measuring products, packages, and pallets – using a tape and ruler have their limitations. They tend to be:

  • Time-consuming and workforce -intensive
  • Prone to errors, causing delays and damages
  • Expensive due to rising quality costs
  • Hindrance on workforce productivity.

Automating the dimensioning process gets rids of these issues, quickly measures the SKUs, and uses the spaces resourcefully. Automated dimensioning systems can also:

  • Simplify and hasten warehouse functionalities, processes, and procedures 
  • Redress operational costs and overheads
  • Avoid issues that inhibit warehouses from fulfilling customer orders
  • Reduce carbon footprint and wastage
  • Bring about greater warehouse sustainability by managing records electronically
  • Eliminate wastage of boxes, corrugate, dunnage, and packing materials
  • Be environment-friendly

Two major types of dimensioning equipment

Large Freight Dimensioners
Pallet dimensioners or large freight dimensioners are large machines that provide accurate measurements of palletized or crated freight in extreme conditions
Package Dimensioners
Also known as parcel dimensioners, these dynamic, in-motion equipment measure individual boxes, cartons, and packages of various shapes and sizes in warehouses and distribution centers.

Why are dimensioning and weighing systems vital to your business?

Assess design precision based on dimensions such as height, breadth, width, and weight of the products. For example, shipping a truckload or cubing out pallets can save considerable time and effort for businesses with exact dimensions in hand. Furthermore, the more precise and transparent your measurement can be, the better are your chances of turning dimensioning and weighing systems into profitability drivers. When combined with 2D cameras, bar code scanning systems, label printers, and dynamic or static weighing systems, they can become the ultimate turnkey dimensioning, weighing, and tracking system. The dimensional information collected by these systems is electronically stored and exported to Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), where it can be utilized to create more value for your business. You should ensure that the dimensioning equipment suits your facility’s unique purpose, characteristics, and budget. You can choose between:
  • Measuring equipment for small parcels
  • Portable cubing and weighing workstations
  • In-line cubing machines for automated sort facilities
  • Large static systems to quantify the dimensions and weights of larger packages and palletized loads.

5 reasons why your warehouses need dimensioning and weighing solutions

01

Reduces inaccuracy in shipping costs:
Knowing the precise measurements of weights can enable businesses to determine the accurate shipping cost. Accurate dimensional data helps businesses decrease shipping expenses and avoid carriers’ chargebacks because of incorrect dimension calculations and erroneous freight charges.

02

Simplifies slotting:
Distinctive spaces are slotted out to items based on their size, weight, perishability, and sales potential. Dimensioning helps improve the slotting process by making it simple and systematic. It helps the slotting system recommend the most advantageous slot for the products without any hassle or errors.

03

Improves cartonization:
Cartonization appraises the items ordered to decide the packaging carton’s amount and size. Dimensioning improves cartonization by saving time and effort since each item’s weight, height, length, and width can be quickly calculated. It also reduces unnecessary filling of air and dunnage by choosing the right sized packaging.

04

Assists capacity planning:
Capacity planning plays an imperative role in warehouses with space constraints. Dimensioning inventory enables warehouses to organize or reorganize their existing space or plan a new facility. Once the warehouse manager measures each item’s weight, height, length, and width and cartonizes them, future capacity planning becomes a breeze.

05

Boosts quality control:
Quality control plays a critical role in impacting warehouse efficiency by preventing damaged items from reaching the customers, improving order accuracy, and reducing returns. Dimensioning the products helps you to identify prima facie defects in outbound and inbound shipments, saving time on visual checks and averting unnecessary cost and labor.

Remember that without proper dimensioning and weighing systems, even the most advanced, innovative AI and ML-enabled robots and systems would be unable to maximize your warehouse’s potential. Today, future-ready warehouses are gunning to control costs and drive profits by ensuring accurate dimensions and weight measurements.

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