Warehouses are the center of the supply chain. Being able to see into this nucleus and understanding what makes it tick can help differentiate the good from the great. On the Logistics Matters podcast with DC Velocity, Alex Wakefield, CEO of Longbow Advantage, talks about the growing need for warehouse visibility and why most organizations expect too little from their service providers.  

In the complex and fast world of warehousing, relatively small changes can have far-reaching effects. Small changes in the warehouse tracked in real-time can generate more revenue, increase customer satisfaction, and optimize labor productivity. The benefits of having warehouse visibility are growing, and the sooner companies have access to this technology, the better the results.   

As more companies appreciate the value warehouse visibility brings, they often turn to traditional, less effective solutions such as in-house tools or even ERP solutions to fill this need. However, neither of these solutions are designed to pull real-time data or present it in a digestible way. This could be attributed to no other team such as Finance or Marketing requiring real-time data to maximize their productivity. However, this is required by all Operations teams, and only a solution that caters to their need should be implemented. 

Alex continues to discuss some of the trends in the warehouse, including a growing need for automation, increased investment in AI and Machine Learning, process improvement, and increasing visibility into the warehouse. Overall, in this capacity constraint world, we live where everything is in short supply, so it is important to have visibility into what is happening in real-time to make smart, educated decisions that affect the entire supply chain.