by Fronetics | Jul 23, 2020 | Blog, Content Marketing, Covid-19, Marketing, Strategy
The benefits of a B2B blog are too important to overlook. Plus: Three companies that excel at content creation.
If your company blog has gone the way of the bears in winter, there is good reason to bring it back to life. That stale page on your website is more important than may realize. When months and even years go by without a single update, you’re missing out on company blog benefits.
Let’s cut straight to the stats:
- 70% of respondents in a Databox survey said SEO is better than pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for generating sales. (Can you guess what a leading driver of website SEO is?)
- Blogs are among the top 3 tools used in content strategies (HubSpot 2020).
- 51% of companies say updating old content has proven to be the most efficient tactic implemented (SEMrush, 2019). (See our post on reworking content for SEO here.)
- 67% of companies use organic traffic to measure content success (SEMrush, 2019). (You guessed it: A blog is a key tool in boosting organic search traffic.)
- 72% of online marketers say content creation is their most effective SEO tactic.
- Companies with blogs generate 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages than those without.
In other words, a company blog brings benefits beyond just being a source of information, a tool to communicate with prospects, and to build brand. Despite new technologies, text will — as HubSpot points out in its 2020 State of Marketing Report — always be the foundation of search. And no place allows you to add descriptive text for improved search rankings as much as a company blog.
Not seeing company blog benefits? Here are 4 common pitfalls.
But as the significant number of hibernating company blogs shows, the pitfalls tend to come in spades. If your B2B blog is currently on snooze, let us guess the reason falls into one of the following categories:
- Unforeseen events: The most recent example is, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. Faced with massive upheaval, supply chain companies, in particular, had to reshuffle resources. Although a crisis could be the time to step up communication and position the company as a leader, some blogs went dark after releasing a statement on the pandemic and its impact on the business.
- Unrealistic expectations: More than a few B2B blogs have run out of steam when immediate results fail to materialize. The disappointment tends to stem from unrealistic expectations. As much as everyone wants that first blog post to bring in a bucketload of leads, content marketing takes time to build momentum; but, done right, it is designed to turn into a tidal wave of improved search authority. Let patience rule and you will be rewarded.
- Lack of resources: To stand out in a crowd of tough competitors is not accomplished in an afternoon. Managing a successful company blog takes time. Other than outsourcing, there really is no way around it. If the blog is run on the fly or is low on the list of priorities, the results will suffer along with the motivation to keep going.
- Lack of strategy: Publishing for the sake of publishing will get you nowhere. Who are you writing for? What keywords are they using? How do you evaluate performance? Even well-written content can miss the target if it is not tailored around the audience you want to reach.
- Lackluster content: Although we always stress the need for consistency and keyword optimization when it comes to blog content, there is yet another aspect that is just as important — quality. A company blog that does not benefit your target audience will not benefit you. The most successful B2B blogs combine SEO best practices with useful, high-quality content.
B2B blogging done right: 3 examples of great blogs
For inspiration, it always helps to look at the organizations that get it right. And there are many to choose from. Take a look at three that have realized company blog benefits with engaging and purposeful content. Although conceptually different, the visions of these blogs align with the goals of each company, whether it’s generating leads with persuasive analytics or carving out a niche in social responsibility.
1. Cerasis: Market insights
The transportation management company was one of the early adopters of B2B blogging — and the results have been impressive. And Cerasis is not letting up. The company has published 15 blog posts in July alone, a pace few can — or don’t necessarily need to — match.
2. General Electric: Global vision
A multibillion-dollar corporation has the benefit of ample resources — and GE is putting them to good use. General Electric Reports intelligently humanizes the company with a stream of stories on the impact of GE products on global progress and employee spotlights that tie into current events.
3. Comscore: Analytics first
A look at Comscore’s blog leaves no doubt about its specialty: the collection and analysis of internet data. Comscore draws upon its vast resources to create content that is found nowhere else. The ability to showcase such detailed expertise is sure to sway a target audience looking to leverage customer behavior online.
Time to crawl out
The impact of an effective B2B blog can be huge. It requires research and vision to get started, persistence to keep it up, and analysis to evaluate the performance. In the end, the benefits of a company blog contribute to the health of your entire organization.
How about waking that bear up again?
Read more:
Key step to moving beyond survival mode: Revising B2B buyer personas
Trade show cancellations call for contingency plans (It’s urgent)
by Fronetics | Jun 9, 2020 | Blog, Content Marketing, Covid-19, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
Too busy? Don’t want to invest in-house? Here are 4 prime reasons organizations opt to outsource content marketing.
No other lead generation tactic is more important to technology marketers than content assets. The new Gartner research — trade shows come in second place — shows the importance of paying heavy attention to how your organization positions itself online. If the Covid-19 repercussions left you no choice but to cut back on marketing or if you have been juggling more than ever, consider the case for outsourcing content marketing to stay competitive and excel.
At a time when some of the biggest supply chain trade shows have been either canceled or postponed, count on content assets to grow in significance. Is your organization up to the task?
In our work with both supply chain startups and multi-national corporations, we have noted a few returning reasons for outsourcing content marketing.
Do you recognize yourself or your organization in any of the following?
Outsourcing content marketing: 4 reasons organizations decide to seek outside help
Too much to do
When content marketing is the umpteenth task on an endless to-do list, the results will suffer. This scenario is particularly common among startups where everyone is wearing as many hats as possible in anticipation of the next round of funding. The haphazard approach to what is being published on social channels and on the blog does the company no favors and leaves the person in charge — frequently with limited marketing experience — feeling frustrated. Instead of letting keyword-optimized content carve out a brand niche and build website SEO, the effort goes nowhere although the will to succeed is strong.
The alternative: Partner with a content marketing agency and turn the focus on your core expertise.
No consistency
The effectiveness of content marketing relies on consistency. But being consistent is a major challenge for supply chain companies, especially when trying to recover from months of unprecedented disruption. As we explained in this post, consistency feeds SEO. Let it slip, and you lose in the online search race. In this case, sudden trade show cancelations may have forced the in-house marketing team to a quick pivot, from executing the company marketing strategy to pouring all efforts into making trade show contingency plans. Add a product launch to the mix and chances are content production will come to a standstill.
The alternative: Keep SEO humming and your online presence strong with an outsourced marketing team invested in your success.
Desire to scale but costs are too high
Needs can arise quickly. There may be a trend that a company wants to jump on or a sudden change in the business environment that warrants the need to scale up content marketing quickly. Several of our clients have sought out Fronetics because they lacked certain marketing capabilities and did not necessarily want or have the resources to make the investment in-house. That is particularly true under current circumstances when some organizations are battling budget constraints and disruption. If an organization wants to capitalize on video marketing, for instance, it can be both time-consuming and costly to train team members or go through a rigorous hiring process.
The alternative: Leverage a team out outsourced content experts to fill the gap without adding fixed costs.
Lack of analysis
The motions of content marketing are repetitive — researching, strategizing, executing, analyzing, revising — but they are so for a reason. Even the most well-intentioned content strategy can fail when an organization does not act on analytics. But for busy organizations, it is not uncommon for those last pieces of the puzzle — analyzing and revising — to be left undone.
What types of content worked well this quarter? How did the email messaging fare? What was the click-through-rate? During the past few months, when disruption ruled, it is hardly surprising if not every step was optimally performed. Yet, it can all the same be damaging to the overall success of the marketing effort if the metrics are allowed to go unnoticed for too long.
The alternative: Let content count with an outsourced marketing team that constantly needs to prove ROI.
Considering the significance of content assets, it pays to do it well. Is outsourcing content marketing right for you?
Read more:
by Fronetics | May 6, 2020 | Blog, Content Marketing, Covid-19, Current Events, Marketing, SEO, Strategy, Supply Chain
So much to say, so little time. Supply chain marketing during Covid-19 — leaning in is better than backing out.
Turmoil does not quite begin to describe the situation that supply chain companies have experienced lately. The Covid-19 pandemic threw in just a few weeks the finely calibrated, just-in-time supply chains into a state of disarray. In the midst of the struggle to get product from Point A to Point B — while also ensuring the health and safety of employees — many companies had little choice but to adopt an all-hands-on-deck approach.
We saw it ourselves as our clients were suddenly buried in challenges that only weeks earlier had posed no issues at all — securing electronic parts overseas, locating warehouse space, finding freight forwarders, moving product out of port, and more.
If supply chain marketing during Covid-19 had to take a backseat during the initial phase of the crisis, beware of staying quiet for too long. Letting your marketing channels sit idle for an extended period, or drastically scaling back at a time when communication matters more than ever, is not a risk-free strategy.
Let us explain why:
Covid-19 supply chain marketing: Lean in or risk losing ground
Go silent — or stay strong
In the wake of the first shockwaves of the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain companies understandably had to devote extensive resources to regain their footing. Few industries felt the impact as deeply as the supply chain. For some, the disruption opened up a flood of new business, sending the entire organization scrambling to keep up. For others, it meant every budget line item had to be scrutinized.
At the same time, we noted another challenge brewing for busy organizations: Maintaining a strong online presence during a tumultuous time. How do instill confidence in current customers and gain new leads if you say little or nothing at all?
After the first flurry of crisis-related marketing emails that many of us received (“We are here to help”), some companies — overwhelmed by the scope of work — let their social media accounts go silent and blog pages seized being updated.
The risk? Taking a break or withdrawing altogether could put your organization in a worse position later.
A McKinsey study underscores this point — conventional downturn strategies can actually hamper recovery. The performance analysis of 700 high–tech companies during two decades of market contractions showed “making obvious moves (for instance, cutting costs) as well as counterintuitive ones (such as increasing sales and marketing expenditures) quickly can improve a company’s position when the recovery begins.”
Interestingly, the best-performing companies increased their marketing and advertising spend relative to their competitors, but also compared to their own spending when times were better. However, from our perspective, the issue is far from just spend but identifying the most effective marketing channels and tactics at a time when resources may be scarce.
Weaken SEO — or make it soar
The risk of cutting back on supply chain marketing during Covid-19 also extends to search engine optimization (SEO). Rather than a one-time project, SEO needs constant attention to hum. It is the foundation of your effort to improve the quality and quantity of unpaid website traffic by increasing the visibility of your site or page to search engine users.
SEO and content go together
The completion of a well-designed website is only the beginning. If there is anything SEO demands more than anything else, it is content. You simply cannot ace one without the other. New, key-word optimized content is what makes SEO tick. Google Search has for years used a freshness algorithm to index pages. This means fresh content gets rapidly indexed and lands higher in search rankings than older content.
Backlinks — other reputable sites linking to your content — are also crucial to building SEO. When you provide up-to-date, insightful content, chances increase others will notice and link back to your site, especially during a time when so many are online searching for information. The same goes for backlinks and traffic to your site generated by social media.
So, what is the risk of going quiet?
The short of it: SEO can suffer. If content was the backbone of your marketing strategy before the pandemic hit, your organization has likely established a history of domain authority and is, as a result, in a better position to weather the storm. But not even the best of sites can escape the reality of what matters to search engines. Although you can still squeeze juice out of old keywords, lack of new content puts your organization at a disadvantage when search engines evaluate your pages in competition with countless others.
So much to say — can you find the time?
In many respects, supply chain marketing during Covid-19 comes down to this: Who would you want to do business with during a time of great uncertainty? What signals do you want to send to your audience? What do you want to tell them? As challenging as it may be, leaning in is better than backing out.
by Fronetics | Nov 5, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
LinkedIn has released a new guide to using video on its platform. Here’s what supply chain companies need to know to get the most out of video on LinkedIn.
Highlights:
- Effective B2B marketing videos start with an analysis of your prospects’ unique purchasing journey and needs.
- Videos for the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey should be concise and geared to forging an emotional connection.
- Bottom-of-the-funnel video types include product demonstrations, welcome videos, webinars, and FAQ sessions.
Visual content, particularly video, is the future of social media marketing. And video on LinkedIn is no exception. A recent report from Kleiner Perkins indicates that 62% of B2B marketers rate video as an effective content-marketing tactic. Not only that, but, according to internal data from LinkedIn, users are 20 times more likely to share a video on the platform than any other type of content.
Thanks to a recent guide published by the platform, leveraging video on LinkedIn for the supply chain has never been more attainable. The Tech Marketer’s Guide to B2B Video is an invaluable resource. Whether you’re relatively new to B2B video marketing, or a seasoned video creator, the guide contains useful nuggets of information, as well as examples of effective video on LinkedIn, for marketers at any stage.
We’ve pulled out key points for you.
6 steps to approaching video on LinkedIn
It’s worth pointing out that the six steps that LinkedIn identifies to building an effective video strategy are applicable elsewhere as well. Your strategy for video on LinkedIn should likely also apply to your strategy for video content across your digital assets.
1) Analyze your buyer’s journey
Consider the unique buyer’s journey for your company. What content do prospects want to see at each stage, and what actions do you want them to take?
2) Set your marketing strategy
What medium is optimal for delivering content at each stage? Which stages are particularly conducive to video content?
3) Establish metrics and KPIs
Choosing the right key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics will allow you to determine how your content is performing.
4) Create video content
At the stages where video content is the best way to deliver, what type of video is most effective?
5) Target your content
Use your understanding of your target audiences, in combination with the targeting capabilities of LinkedIn, to ensure that your video is reaching the right people at the right times.
6) Optimize your campaign
Keep track of your data. Note what’s working. Adjust what isn’t performing.
Using video on LinkedIn throughout the buyer’s journey
Awareness
The first stage of the buyer’s journey, the awareness stage, is particularly opportune for video on LinkedIn. At this point, your goal is to tell a story, evoke a response, and introduce your brand and products.
Videos at this stage should be concise and geared to connecting with your audience, demonstrating an understanding of their challenges, and how your company is positioned to address those challenges.
LinkedIn’s guide points out a major advantage of video: its measurability. As opposed to text-based marketing, where your knowledge of audience behavior is limited to downloads and time on page, video on LinkedIn comes with richer data. You can tell, for example, when someone has watched your video and when they stopped. This means you can adjust your video length suit the preferences of your audience.
At the awareness stage, important video metrics include how many times your video was viewed, how much of the video was watched, and how many viewers responded to your call to action.
Consideration
Using video on LinkedIn for the second stage of the buyer’s journey, the consideration stage, is about introducing your products and their features, as well as giving a sense of what it’s like to work with your business. Ideal video formats at this stage include explainers, case studies, webinars, how-to videos, and virtual tours. Your foremost goal is to be authentic and to represent your business and the solutions it offers.
Key metrics at this stage are about engagement. Keep track of the number of interactions your videos get (comments, likes, clicks, shares, etc.), compared to the number of views. Also keep an eye on your estimated cost per view (eCPV) to track the efficacy of your video budget.
Decision
Because the decision phase of the buyer’s journey is all about personalization, video has traditionally been used less here. But that’s starting to change. Authentic, trust-building videos can be a powerful asset for the decision stage, reassuring your prospects that they’re making the right decision, using testimonials from existing customers. Welcome videos, FAQ sessions, and webinars are also effective in the decision phase, as well as full-length product demonstrations.
If you’re using lead-generation forms with your video on LinkedIn, keep track of which generate the most leads, as well as the quality of those leads. Otherwise, track click-through rates to gain insights into your estimated cost per click (eCPC).
Metrics for video on LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers a robust set of metrics for videos on its platforms:
- Views: At least one second of playback while the video is at least 50% on screen on desktop, or 300 milliseconds on mobile
- Views at 25%: The number of times your video was watched at 25% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
- Views at 50%: The number of times your video was watched at 50% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
- Views at 75%: The number of times your video was watched at 75% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
- Completions: The number of times your video was watched at 97-100% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
- Completion Rate: Completions divided by views as a percentage
- View Rate: Number of views divided by impressions, multiplied by 100
- eCPV: Estimated cost per view
- Full Screen Plays: Total number of clicks to view video in full screen
Do you use video on LinkedIn for your business? Let us know your experience in the comments.
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by Fronetics | Oct 15, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Supply Chain
The analog supply chain model is outmoded and inefficient. Here’s how digital transformation is reinventing manufacturing.
Highlights:
- Manufacturers are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
- The traditional analog supply chain model is unable to compete with digital disruptors in a volatile market.
- Digital transformation empowers manufacturers to create sought-after personalized experiences for buyers.
Digital transformation isn’t just the latest buzzword in supply chain circles. It’s an ongoing trend that’s revolutionizing manufacturing and supply chain efficiency. According to a recent report from Accenture, 78% of CFOs are spearheading initiatives to improve efficiency through adoption of digital technology.
Digital transformation empowers manufacturers to meet the evolving demands of a customer base with rising expectations for customer service. The digital technologies that are emerging today offer analytics that are vital for forecasting and understanding how to shift the balance of supply and demand.
3 ways that the analog supply chain model is outdated
Supply chain management expert Frank Meerkamp writes, “The traditional supply chain is a tapestry built on an outdated analog network – yet it exists in a digital world.” The difficult truth is that in today’s climate of rapidly shifting market demands and an increasingly interconnected world, manufacturers must embrace digital transformation or be left behind.
Before we look at how digital transformation can benefit manufacturers, let’s take a moment to examine the challenges presented by an outdated analog supply chain.
1) Market volatility
Today’s markets move at a breakneck pace. Thanks to a constantly shifting geopolitical landscape, changing regulations and sanctions, and the unpredictability of cost and supply, manufacturers face market volatility, uncertainty, and a high level of risk. The analog supply chain model leaves companies without the agility to respond and pivot quickly and to operate efficiently on a global or regional scale.
2) Competition from digital disruptors
Perhaps the most powerful example of the way in which digital disruptors are challenging legacy leaders is the Amazon effect. Amazon has effectively situated itself as an innovator and easily has outpaced rivals in multiple sectors. Companies that continue to embrace an analog supply chain model simply cannot compete with those that have fully embraced digital transformation.
3) Rising customer expectations
While it can be tempting for B2B companies to bury their heads in the sand, believing that digital marketing is purely a B2C necessity, the reality is that supply chain companies must embrace digital marketing as part of their digital transformation. Buyers expect hyper-personalized experiences, as well as customized products, and the kind of execution that’s impossible for manufactures to deliver within the analog supply chain framework.
4 ways digital transformation addresses today’s challenges for manufacturers
As the complexity of the supply chain increases, embracing digital transformation is the clearest path to success for manufacturers. While companies that cling to an outdated analogue model struggle with eroding margins and an inability to compete, those that establish “a data-driven supply chain,” writes Meerkamp, “can gain advantages in increased forecasting accuracy, identifying and resolving issues in real time, creating new segmentations, and delivering on consumer requirements with speed, specificity, and scale.”
In short, digital transformation uses data to drive visibility and agility for manufacturers, allowing them to operate efficiently and profitably.
1) Establishing visibility and centralized control
The AI and machine-learning technologies available today enable manufacturers to meet the challenges presented by an increasingly complex supply chain. Massive sets of data can be captured and processed, providing invaluable real-time visibility. Not only that, but manufacturers can leverage this visibility to centralize data and decision-making.
2) Creating new performance engines
Thanks to the ability of AI technologies to process enormous quantities of data, digital transformation enables “powerful resolution engines, based on real-time root-cause analyses, to automate the execution of supply chain functions, and optimize transactions to meet strategic objectives,” says Meerkamp. These technologies facilitate the forecasting and immediate decision-making necessary for manufacturers to operate efficiently.
3) Facilitating agility
Today’s marketplace moves faster than ever, and market forces are constantly shifting. Agility has never been more important for companies to compete. Intelligent technologies allow supply chain companies to establish a management model that is collaborative, data-driven, and platform-based. Digital transformation enables the sharing of qualitative information as well as real-time data and implications. This in turns enables agile management, ready to meet the shifting demands of the marketplace.
4) Developing personalization and flexibility
One of the biggest challenges manufacturers face today is the increasing buyer expectations of personalized experiences. AI technology enables the creation of segmentation strategies, addressing buyers’ personalized needs based on various factors, including channel, location, and service level. Real-time visibility into market data also leads to greater insight into buyers’ needs and how to meet them.
Organizations that embrace digital transformation are empowered to create personalized experiences for their customers and operate with the agility, visibility, and centralization necessary to compete in today’s marketplace.
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by Fronetics | Oct 10, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Robotics & Automation, Supply Chain
Supply chain companies are beginning to use robotics to boost warehouse efficiency and drive profits thanks to new automated technologies.
Highlights:
- High-res cameras, pressure sensors, navigation lasers, and acoustic warning indicators allow automated devices to navigate warehouses efficiently and autonomously.
- Robotics offers enhanced efficiency for both warehouse capability and predictive supply chain management.
- After major investments in automated fulfillment centers, Amazon has seen a 50% increase in capacity when compared to facilities that don’t use robotics.
A recent Information Services Group (ISG) study suggests that something big is happening: 72% of information services (IS) enterprises plan to increase their investment in robotics by the end of the 2019. Why? Because automation and IS are a natural fit.
Leading companies worldwide are beginning to use robotics to boost their warehouse efficiency and forecasting capabilities. And an improving price-to-performance ratio associated with robotics technology means that usage is sure to continue expanding.
The advantages of automation
New automated technologies are a game-changer. Until recently, available robotic devices were stationary and couldn’t interact visually with their surroundings or respond to unexpected inputs. Today, robots are mobile and collaborative. High-res cameras, pressure sensors, navigation lasers, and acoustic warning indicators allow automated devices to navigate warehouses efficiently and autonomously.
Recent technology upgrades include software that causes a robot to cease activity temporarily if it encounters an unexpected object or input, meaning that these devices can safely work alongside humans. Whereas earlier robots were used mainly to transfer objects from one place to another, more recent technology can enhance tasks ranging from managing inventory to retrieving, assembling, and packing orders.
Industry leaders have invested in automated warehouse management systems (WMS) with undeniable results. After major investments in automated fulfillment centers, Amazon has seen a 50% increase in capacity when compared to facilities that don’t use robotics. Amazon has even acquired the company that creates its robots, indicating Amazon’s confidence that the continued production and development of automated technology will play a big part in their future.
JD.com, China’s largest online retailer, has gone even further. Boasting the world’s first fully automated e-commerce warehouse, JD has equipped the 43,000-square-foot facility with 20 industrial robots that allow the company to provide same- and next-day delivery to more than 1 billion customers. Whereas a standard warehouse of that size would require nearly 500 workers, JD employs just 5.
Streamlining operational staff offers a big pay-off. On average, a warehouse employee wastes almost 7 weeks per year in unnecessary motion, which adds up overall to $4.3 billion in labor expenses. For employees, simply walking around in the warehouse accounts for 50% of the time involved in retrieving orders and checking inventories. Coupled with the potential for human error, the superior efficiency of robots makes it a question of “when?” rather than “if?” automation will become the new norm in parcel-sorting hubs and distribution centers.
Automated guided vehicles
The robotics revolution is already underway. One of the most widespread and effective uses of robots in warehouses is the automated guided vehicle (AGV). These self-driving vehicles are rendering expensive and single-use equipment like conveyor belts and large loading vehicles obsolete. Battery-monitoring systems send AGVs back to their charging ports when necessary, maximizing the efficiency of their operation. AGVs can be directed by voice or programmed to retrieve orders, guided by physical markers, magnets, and vision systems. In addition to navigating a warehouse floor more quickly and efficiently than human employees, AGVs are also capable of lifting and transporting much heavier weights, allowing for a larger number of orders to be retrieved in the same amount of time.
The advantages of AGVs run deeper than warehouse efficiency, however, and extend to logistics operations as well. AGVs track and update inventory records in real time as they retrieve orders. Ordinarily, the immense amount of data involved in running supply chains creates inefficiency and requires additional personnel to monitor inventory levels and place orders. The AGV integrates these tasks into a streamlined operation, as it can retrieve items as soon as order data is received and updates inventory levels instantaneously, even placing automatic purchases. This allows for improved forecasting and faster inventory refill.
Effi-BOT & Sawyer
That’s all very well in theory. But how does it work in practice?
DHL has led the pack in using robots to assist employees with repetitive and physically demanding tasks. Effi-BOT, an AGV that follows employees through DHL warehouses, takes over the physical work involved in picking orders. The use of Effi-BOT has allowed DHL to move from single-order picking to a multi-order model, and helps track complex inventory dynamics.
Another robot, Sawyer, has illustrated how automation can be used in flexible ways to accommodate ever-changing purchasing and order patterns involved in e-commerce. Sawyer’s collaborative capabilities allow it to handle repetitive aspects of the co-packing process. By adding Sawyer to its existing workforce, DHL has been able to use the robot to flexibly adjust to unpredictable order data.
Managing robotics
Typically, the inventory and performance data generated by devices such as Sawyer and Effi-BOT is aggregated in a dashboard that supply chain managers can use to check inventory levels and review automated requests sent from robotic devices to purchasing departments. By integrating data recorded in real time by automated devices, dashboards make larger and larger segments of the supply chain visible, allowing managers to pinpoint the source of problems, such as a delayed order from a supplier’s factory.
Robotics thus offers enhanced efficiency for both warehouse capability and predictive supply chain management. While the regulatory policies surrounding the use of robotics in the workplace are as yet uncertain, there can be no doubt that automation is already re-shaping the supply chain. Successful companies of the future will be the ones that find ways of taking advantage of new robotics technology today.
This post originally appeared on EBN Online.
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