Seventy per cent of decision makers worldwide are planning to accelerate investment in warehouse technologies by 2020, according to a new report.

Zebra Technologies Corporation, a global leader in solutions and services that provide real-time visibility into organizations’ assets, people and transactions, has announced the results of its latest Warehouse Vision Study, which compares input from 1,378 IT and operations warehouse professionals on expectations in 2015 versus 2020.

Consumer expectations will drive increased investment in IT and operational functions in warehouses over the next four years as manufacturing and logistics companies continue to adjust to delivering directly to consumers.

Key facts

•    Over 40 per cent of respondents cited shorter delivery times as a key measure requiring warehouse investment. Also indicative of increased consumer demand is the expected increase by 76 per cent of those surveyed in the number of warehouse locations and volume of items shipped out of warehouses.

•    Half of the surveyed IT and operations decision makers planned to move to a more modern, full-featured warehouse management system last year while 75 per cent of them plan this in 2020 to help manage the increased locations and items shipped.

•    51 per cent of those surveyed expected increased investment in real-time location systems that track inventory and assets throughout the warehouse last year, but this number escalates to 76 per cent of respondents in 2020.

•    Executives anticipate an increase in inbound items that will be bar coded in the next five years, from 66 per cent of survey respondents in 2015 to 82 per cent in 2020.

•    By 2020, respondents cited plans to make investments in the following processes and tools: increasing volume of items shipped (76 per cent), equipping staff with technology (73 per cent), bar code scanning (68 per cent), tablets (66 per cent) and Internet of Things (62 per cent).

•    The October 2015 survey was completed by 1,378 IT and warehouse professionals in 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US.

Mark Wheeler, director, Warehouse Solutions, Zebra Technologies said: “IT and operations decision makers in warehouses and distribution centers consistently need to identify new ways to improve productivity and reduce costs to remain competitive.”

“Fulfilment is an integral part of the customer value chain and investment in technology and innovation in this area can go far to improve a customer’s experience. Nearly half of respondents in the survey indicated a concern about labour performance in the order, pick and fulfilment process. We see this as an enormous area of opportunity: providing workers with the tools they need to do their jobs accurately and productively will help companies meet and exceed customer expectations for accuracy and on-time delivery,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service