Page 19 - Indian Transport & Logistics News July - August 2024 Issue for Website

A smooth-running domestic supply chain means on-
time delivery, improved reliability of operations, accurate
fulfillment, and distribution. Generally, it means no need
to worry about how, where, when or how much it will
cost to deliver products to customers. This is the vision,
‘Make in India’ had in mind when it made its declaration
– to fill the basic needs from domestic companies and
with those needs met, seeing where we go next.
Now picture this: you are operating an omnichannel
distribution center that serves customers in- store, online,
and through hospital partnerships. An order is received from
a hospital for a large quantity of medicines, at the same
time an individual places an order with a prescription from a
local doctor for home delivery. As soon as the orders come
in, in one area of the warehouse dedicated to e-commerce
orders, a bin from a grid-based AS/RS (Automated Storage
and Retrieval) is presented to a robotic arm and is picked
and packed for individual parcel shipment. In another area
of the warehouse a crane based AS/RS presents a full pallet
of medicine where it is discharged onto an automated pallet
conveyor that self directs the pallet to the loading dock for
direct shipment. Workers aren’t rushing around with manual
bins, clipboards, trolleys or traditional forklifts searching
for items. Instead, with the seamless integration of the AS/
RS and conveyors, every order flows effortlessly through
the warehouse. Automated conveyor sortation directs each
pallet and product to its designated location with pinpoint
accuracy, and the speed of these conveyors ensures that
orders are packed and ready for dispatch in record time.
With critical order fulfillment now automated, what
used to take hours is now completed in minutes. Without
automation, order fulfillment requires manual review of
orders, identification and selection of the order items, and
manual confirmation before sealing and sending the box
down the line to ship. This can often mean trips to several
locations – racking, pick modules and more – and opens the
process to inefficiencies and errors. Human operators, who
were once required to pick-and-ship orders, now have more
ergonomically friendly workstations through reduction of
walking to racking and carrying of product, for example. They
are also now free to focus on other value-added areas of the
business that will help the company grow, such as
R&D (research and development).
With critical business needs met through
automation, Indian companies can propel
themselves into new markets, attracting high-profile
clients and increasing their revenue exponentially.
The cascading effect of automation on the
economy, health and growth of the Indian people
circles back to the ‘Make in India,’ initiative.
With increased investment and infrastructure
development, automation helps us become self-
reliant and focus on other value-added areas of
domestic growth.

Dhirendra Vashisht, Director-India Operations
Bastian Solutions, a Toyota Automated Logistics company HQ:
Bangalore since 1996
Conveyor Manufacturing Facility: Kolar District since 2023
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www.itln.in July - August 2024