Warehouses Have Reached Magnanimous Level of Automation: Atmos Systems’ Khursheed Alam

For e-commerce players who handle bulks of goods and items, warehouse automation has emerged as one of the most essential requirement. In this context, Atmos System is making strides in providing customized tailor-made Conveyor Solutions for different industries by adopting state-of-the-art innovations in the segment and is investing in newer technologies like ASRS, AGV and ACR systems. Their tech-enabled offerings, automated processing is being made smarter, faster, and more efficient.

In an exclusive interview with Sakshi Post, Khursheed Alam, Co-founder, Atmos Systems tells Reshmi AR about future trends in warehousing automation.

Here are excerpts from the interview

How the warehouse automation is evolving

There was a time when warehouse management was a largely unorganized and mismanaged system. Companies relied on dated methods, where inventories were kept and managed manually. However, with the advancement in technology, the warehouses have received their share of advanced technology as well. The computers have digitized the management of inventories, which are updated automatically with the help of customized software solutions using data analytics. This has helped to lessen the workload of employees, leaving them free to bring in more innovation in the warehouse industry.

Goods management and movement of goods within the warehouses spread across many kilometres have also seen a remarkable upgradation with the advancement in robotics and machinery. Conveyor systems help to move heavy loads within these warehouses as well as to the cargo vehicles. Extensive tasks in the warehouse industry are being automated at the moment, according to the needs of specific companies.

The first to hop on the warehouse automation bandwagon have been the e-commerce, 3PL, FMCG and courier companies as they need with bulk, varied packages that need to be transferred from one department to the other. Traveling right from the warehouse of the manufacturer to that of the courier company to finally reaching the customer, each step is crucial and a lot of times, the entire cycle is finished within one night.

How Atmos is helping in the development of Smart Warehouses

Slowly the warehouse management is moving towards minimal human intervention, because of the new technology and machinery available at their disposal.Automating the procedure of warehouse management leads to better productivity along with efficient inbound and outbound parcel/ cargo management. Atmos specialises in facilitating flow of goods, inventory management, tracking and fulfilment of order. Autonomous Case handling Robotic or ACR is a technology engineered to intelligently pick and handle goods, improve storage density and improve storage efficiency.

Robotic Palletizing System is another brainchild of Atmos that picks and places goods onto pallets. Dimensioning Weighing Scanning System (DWS) made to capture the dimensions and weight of the packages, enables to sort them onto designated conveyors, which leads to the entire process getting faster.

These products by Atmos ensure that the automation of warehouses through such equipment make them truly Smart Warehouses, as it is the era of digitising and one cannot afford to waste human intelligence on mundane tasks, that can be easily done by machines.

How are ecommerce players leveraging warehousing solutions for seamless product delivery?

The joy of placing an order in evening and receiving it the very next day knows no bound. And this is the key to the true success of e commerce portals. However e commerce giants wouldn’t have managed such quick services if they hadn’t used Warehouse Management System (WMS) to maintain inventory of product available, and the ones that will be out of stock soon, allowing them scope to refurbish the stock. AMR AGV batch picking reduces the time taken to pick an order, and hence enables quick delivery to the end customer. The lesser time taken, and reaching out to the nearest warehouse for the order placed, to delivering it to the customer, automation and these customised software have truly been the backbone of the success of e commerce portals. Small businesses are slowly taking cue and also getting into automation of their medium sized and small sized shops too.

How warehousing automation is contributing to smart city-infa?

A truly smart city is the one where the citizens get everything at the click of a button. And the advent of automation has truly moved in this direction. We have already spoken about how e-commerce giants as well as medium and small business in various sectors are utilising the warehouse automation benefits. Be it food industry, everyday needs, clothes, and even perishable items like grocery can be delivered right at our doorstep. And this has only been possible due to the warehouse automation across the country, as e-commerce has penetrated tier II and tier III cities as well today.

What are the current solutions and future trends in warehousing automation?

Warehouses have already reached a magnanimous level of automation in the last 8 years, and everybody has experienced the benefits of it first hand. Deliveries have become quicker, cheaper and free at times for the consumer. This has been possible due to Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS), Autonomous Case-handling Robots (ACRs), Conveyors, Sortation Systems, Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), among others.

It is being predicted that AMR, AGVs and other robotic technologies will be next boost in the warehouse industry. Drones for inspecting stocks, barcode scanning and retrieving goods will be a part of automated warehouses really soon. IoT enabled smart devices and systems to collect, store and share date will be the next big boon to the industry.

What are the challenges and opportunities in your segment?

Warehouse automation is a capital intensive process, and of course technology is one djinn which the traditional employees don’t want to unveil, as it maybe beyond their understanding. Thus a lot of companies prefer manual operations.So this mindset block is the biggest challenge of our industry.

However we are creating awareness amongst the companies and employees about the financial advantages as well as saving human effort by automation, which will lead to same employees doing better work, and will yield greater results.

R&D is on to make these technologies available at cheaper prices, but till then, the companies will need to understand the short term as well as long term advantages of warehouse automation.

What are your future plans?

Continuing with our effort to create awareness amongst our potential customers about the warehouse automation, and its advantage, we plan to launch experience centres across the country where the automation systems and solutions will be showcased. Majorly B2B, we will invite businesses to come and experience the simplicity of automation and how it can ease tasks, and make the process shorter. Reaching to potential clients will be top priority at the moment.

We are also dedicated more funds and energy to R&D for new product development. Atmos Systems is known for innovative products and we intend to be on top of our game.