9Gujarat Industry ReviewSeptember, 2021complete tedious tasks such as moving picked orders to the trailer yard and re-plenishing parts. A wireless "call" sys-tem can automatically tell robots when and where new parts are needed, which helps save valuable labor resources, particularly given that up to 60% of a picker's time is spent walking through the warehouse. 2. IMPROVING INVENTORY MANAGEMENT VIS-IBILITYAs companies move to minimize ware-house space, they are increasingly relying on multiple channels to fulfill customer orders. Case in point: as of February 2021, buyonline, pickupinstoregrewgrown67% over the previous year, in large part due to COVID-19. Throngs of shoppers took advantage of new delivery options during 2020,making out-of-stocks an even big-ger problem than during the pandemic's initial surge demand period. Even as re-cently as January 2021, out-of-stocks re-mained at four times pre-pandemic levels. Leading firms are rapidly turning to radio frequency identification (RFID) technol-ogy to solve this problem. RFID gives real-time visibility into assets and inventory so that organizations can precisely track stock status with accuracy levels of up to 99%. With RFID, supply chain organiza-tions can better plan and manage inven-tory to reduce out-of-stocks, and ware-house operators can fulfill orders quickly and accurately.3. INTEGRATING PRESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS TO DRIVE BUSINESS GROWTH Companies are also looking for more vis-ibility into their supply chain operations. The lightning-quick changes in consumer and supplier behaviors in 2020 reinforced the need for better data analysis to help companies adapt to the unexpected. In 2021, more businesses are turning to pre-scriptive analytics solutions that analyze "patterns of behavior" to uncover busi-ness challenges.Instead of delivering complex spread-sheets filled with hard-to-interpret data, prescriptive analytics is designed to provide next-best-move instructions to field workers or managers via handheld mobile computers, tablets and other de-vices. The technology is ideal for smaller organizations that often lack the data analysis resources necessary to interpret an extraordinary amount of highly com-plex information.One interesting example of prescrip-tive analytics' value proposition is found in loading operations.A prescriptive ana-lytics system can use sensor data to guide employees during the trailer loading pro-cess, giving them real-time instructions on how to readjust packages and pallets to improve space utilization and time ef-ficiency. Prescriptive analytics can also be used toalert decision makers when suppliers miss deadlinesso they can take the necessary steps to avoid supply chain interruptions. LOOKING TO THE FUTUREToday's supply chain organizations rec-ognize the need for automation, visibil-ity and analytics to move forward. The BizTechInsightssurvey ofsmall and me-dium-sized warehouse operators found that54% want to make technology in-vestments and operational changes that help them "attain increased asset visibil-ity, real-time guidance and data driven performance." Fortunately, technologies that are more cost-effective and easier to deploy are emerging to help busi-nesses of all sizes thrive in the post- pandemic world .
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