By- Rajveer Shah, Director and Head of the AI and Robotic wing, MITSUMI Distribution
Most of what you see in the modern world has probably been produced, processed and packed in a warehouse. Enterprises that overlook the optimization of warehouses are facing a grim reality with 58% of business leaders identifying warehouse inefficiency as the main cause behind losing sales opportunities. Poor experiences with logistics translate to 69% of consumers being less likely to make a return purchase. Today’s Indian logistics is on track to surpass US$ 380 billion by 2025. With so much on the line, we cannot afford to make mistakes that can be easily rectified.
The answer remains in the buzzword of 2025: Artificial Intelligence.
AI is redefining innovation in supply chains globally, rising to combat the unpredictability of modern consumer needs. Labor shortages, skyrocketing e-commerce demand, global competition make the pressure on distribution to automate higher than ever before. This is a welcome change as the global automation in warehousing market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26.1% from 2025 to 2030.
Filling In Gaps
Humans are crucial for many industry needs, including programming and supervising robots. However, to err is human and human errors remain the leading cause of spiralling costs in production and distribution. 80 percent of deviations from organized production processes are caused by human errors, which has the real world implication of 23 percent of all unplanned costs. Robotic assistance dramatically shifts these paradigms, by lowering error rates in picking, packing and sorting, bringing order accuracy to an average of 99.5%. AI is an amazing tool for picking up the slack, helping employees learn from mistakes which were overlooked before.
Data Visiblity on Your Dashboards
Robotic systems are capable of handling vast amounts of data that can be turned into real-time statistics for better visibility. Bottlenecks are neutralized as deep learning unlocks assessment with RFID tags and workflow metrics. Being able to see your inventory levels whenever you want with shipping delays on your dashboard and asset locations accessed instantly, you’re able to make smarter decisions and save on time. Adding in the ability to predict market trends with historical data allows you to have insights that are invaluable.
Managing Resources Efficiently
The correct allocation of resources is paramount to any warehouse management system. AI is a game changer when it comes to supervising labor needs, reducing inventory waste and monitoring equipment condition. It also allows for forecasts on adjusting resources during peak seasons and times when resources can be sectioned off for later.
Reducing Safety Hazards
Working in a warehouse comes with its hazards. Employee safety is a major concern with injuries being commonplace. Collaborative robots can handle repetitive tasks, reducing fatigue. Dangerous, heavy-lifting work can be automated to protect employees. Navigation and route optimization leads to lesser risk of collisions and falls, further helping reduce risks.
Role Rewiring
AI is the future, but as a human invention, human interaction with it is crucial as we update our skill sets to accommodate it. Robots that further into our employment spheres actually augment basic tasks for their human counterparts, who are now free to benefit infinitely from moving into higher-value roles. With repetitive tasks automated, humans get the chance to move into the supervision of automation, management of equipment and troubleshooting effectively to meet customer demands.
Realizing Automated Success
Mismanagement at the warehouse level leads to not only consumer dissatisfaction but very real implications for business leaders who want to be known for their integrity in their fields. The practical implications are insurmountable when it comes to automating warehouses as robotics can cut warehouse costs by 25-30%. Case studies have shown Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) have helped Indian firms increase their processing speed by up to 400%. Location of products, which take humans considerable time, is now automated in WMS to take only seconds, an efficiency adjustment that changes everything. Supply chain processes that inculcate AI and robotic systems use space and labour to their optimal limits, matching the speed at which the current commercial scenario is growing.
Automation is no longer the future; it is the present of logistical brilliance. Strategic AI streamlining is transforming how we see distribution hubs, their functioning moving into a better-planned, better-executed reality.
The future is bright, with distribution hubs being equipped by automation to not only identify challenges but respond to them in ways that we could have never imagined before. Robotics and AI are transforming how distribution hubs work, with human innovation and technological advancement jointly bringing in a new era of industry, with the consumers at the forefront of progress.