It’s no secret that warehouse operators could be feeling the strain. And with an estimated 20 percent jump in warehouse rental costs predicted in our leading cities by 2023, the pressure is on more than ever to get the most out of existing space. Order at the click of a mouse and pointed in the direction of the closest distribution center, our expectations as consumers for both speed and faultless order fulfillment is often taken for granted. But it comes at a cost to the operators ― not only in the demands for speed and accuracy but the fears of contamination, and this is particularly true in the temperature-controlled food industry. Add in the anticipated eight percent growth in food and beverage SKU’s and it’s probably an understandable statement to say warehouse operators could be feeling the strain.

ASRS for Food Manufacturing and Distribution: Enhancing Traceability and Throughput

How do food manufacturers and distributors ensure their products are delivered fresh, safe, and with minimal waste to customers demanding top quality? Well, I know it’s a trick question. Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) for the Food Industry provide the answer. ASRS addresses many of the challenges inherent in food product storage , whether refrigerated, frozen, or dry, and in the face of constantly changing SKUs and packaging requirements. It’s no secret that when it comes to perishable products, the ability to quickly track and trace product from supplier to customer is paramount. ASRS makes that possible.

In Peak Performances, how do you store, track, and ship food products while maintaining storage conditions and complying with regulations, 24/7/365, especially when consumer demands constantly change? What if they fluctuate even more during peak seasons like holidays or launch periods? Like when a record number of new products were launched on two occasions in 2020: in early spring, just as the COVID-19 pandemic spurred food purchasing and again during the year-end holidays? For a team focused on demand planning, how could they have predicted when and exactly which new products would be rushed to market whenever a new virus occurred? Or a new flavor of beverage or snack was introduced? It’s not just about storing more products. It’s also about inventorying and handling these delicate items to ensure they taste like they should if manufacturers don’t want to lose those flavors of the season and demand their business. What about automation? It’s essential, but standard automation solutions can’t ensure the items are maintained in the best conditions necessary for optimal longevity and freshness. ASRS can. It manages inventory efficiently and can include temperature-controlled conditions with the integrated technology to monitor and control environmental conditions.

The Critical Role of Automation in Modern Food Logistics

Logistics, for food or electronics, must be ultra-efficient, fast, and completely reliable. Imagine for a moment, though, we stripped all that away. What if nothing was perishable, every product was forgiving of its environment, nothing needed to move unless you wanted it to — do we even need logistics anymore?

Armstrongltd’s ASRS platforms unite high-density storage, robotics, and software to automate picking, replenishment, and shipping tasks. This drives down labor costs and improves service levels. In my view, the shift towards automation isn’t a ‘nice to have’. It’s a foundational element of today’s leading supply chains in food, retail, electronics, chemicals and apparel.

Challenges in Food Manufacturing and Distribution

Food and beverage operations must manage short shelf lives, strict temperature requirements, and the ongoing threat of contamination. Manual handling often leads to mistakes, wrong picks, missed expiry dates, or damaged goods. When I visited a large dairy warehouse, I saw how legacy systems struggled to keep up with new product launches and SKU proliferation.

How can manufacturers handle fast-paced shifts and shorter lifecycles? How does Retail Warehouse Automation manage to keep pace with flash sales and inevitable seasonal surges? Will poor Electronics Inventory Storage expose high-tech manufacturers to risk? Will outdated systems for Chemical Storage Automation create stiff inefficiencies and unnecessary risk? Should slow Textile Warehouse Automation sales be the result of inadequate storage and product damage?

Core ASRS Solutions for Food Processing and Storage

What’s next? The age of modular and flexible automation is here. Do you need to scale up quickly, increase storage density, or adapt to a new packaging format? Instead of investing in an all-new system, with ASRS from Armstrongltd, you can simply add a robot, adjust a conveyor, or upgrade your WES software.

Beyond food, ASRS can also help eliminate problems caused by manual handling criteria in the retail industry, decrease costly damages registered in the electronics sector for electrostatic sensitive devices, and reduce risks associated with manual handling of hazardous materials in the chemical industry. ASRS also reduces the risk of fabric damage for textile storage and offers the advantage of traceability for fast-moving textiles.

High-Density Shuttle and Layer-Picking Systems

I’m not sure anyone really knows how many warehouses there are in the world; probably at least a few million. Yet, nearly each and every one of them is tasked with solving the same fundamental challenge: How can we store as much product as possible in the smallest space for the lowest cost? No matter what the size or shape, pallet or floor storage, high bay or low, climate controlled or ambient, this tension defines the role of the warehouse in business. And inside the engineering constraints of the building and the teaspoon of energy that can be allocated to a stored pallet, the technology and work all revolves around achieving that simple goal.

Optimizing Inventory Management and Expiry Controls

How about we begin with a clear and present danger if you will — food safety! Real-time inventory tracking of perishables is essential (they don’t call it an expiry for nothing) and nothing beats an ASRS when it has expiry date control functionality built-in. Equally prone to rogue inventory practices are the electronics and high-tech component industry. But necessary for almost any product-based business is this type of straightforward discipline: older items will ship first. By cutting down on the ‘spoilage’ factor an ASRS will pay for itself many times over by reducing compliance issues and in some cases potential lawsuits right along with it. Tightly wound in this same realm is track and trace and especially so in the highly regulated world of pharmaceuticals. Retailers need only a whisper in their information system that something has started to fly off the shelves (or out of the virtual shopping cart these days) with a ‘replenish’ or ‘cross-dock’ alert the result. Right down to the ‘we are sorry about the disruption but it is time for the shelf-life control check/it’s hit the expiry date and we need to dispose of the following quantity of inventory’ all seamlessly integrated into your workflow for the ultra-demanding Customer & Regulatory compliance industries such as high-purity chemicals and textiles.

Enforcing First-Expired, First-Out (FEFO) Rotation Rules

Why do we need this strict FEFO or First-Expired-First-Out discipline? Well, in the case of foods, it’s quite obvious. You want to make sure no food ever expires in your warehouse and ends up later on an unfortunate consumer’s table. But the concept goes far beyond the food industry. This is about finding the right balance between profits, waste, and world hunger. It all boils down to managing your supply chain efficiently.

Conclusion

ASRS systems do this by doing exactly what it sounds like they’d do: automatically store and retrieve product and inventory. But if you’re still not sure what an ASRS does consider it to be a single piece of a much larger, end-to-end warehouse automation solution. This solution handles everything from receiving incoming inventory, putting it away accurately and immediately, tracking those items in the system, and then pulling them down and preparing them for shipment the second they’re ordered. It’s a complete system designed to handle just about anything that gets tossed its way.