Can Robots Help You Manage Inventory Better? Posted by Matt Yearling on  May 31, 2018 在美国，250,000个制造工厂和仓库为400万个零售商店和电子商务网站的活动提供支持 - 所有这些业务都有库存。但在仓库中，只有不到10％的企业使用自动化存储和检索系统（AS / RS）来管理和移动库存。这意味着绝大多数仍在使用需要大量占地空间的机架和其他存储解决方案（请参阅：高房地产成本）和人力。然而，最敏捷的这些业务正在通过整合自动化来提升其房地产的全部价值，从而提升现有流程，使其在不需要大量资本支出的情况下实现更高生产率。 在每个仓库或零售商店都有机会增加价值，好消息是机器人和无人机在三到六个月内提供回报（而AS / RS系统则为五到十年）。只需在现有设施中覆盖一项先进技术就可以获得很多价值，而许多智能公司已经从中受益。只要你能增加更多的价值，最终的结果将是积极的，不管你在哪种环境下工作，或者你面临的是什么市场挑战。 通向自动化的道路并不容易，今天的供应链组织也不会很容易接受。在投票调查与众多行业合作的高管人员时，PINC发现三分之二的物流支出分配给运输，剩余的三分之二用于仓储。这可能就是为什么这么多公司专注于自动驾驶汽车等创新技术的原因。有意思的是，交通运输只占普通公司库存的10％，而90％则坐落在制造工厂，配送中心或商店外的货架或拖车上。这告诉我们公司仍然存在过多的库存，并且他们未必在管理库存水平方面做得很好。他们还面临着缺货，准确性差，库存缩水以及与无效库存管理相关的其他问题。 对于仍在使用剪贴板，电子表格和过时的手动电子阅读器来跟踪库存的公司而言，现在是时候清理板岩并加快采用由机器人和无人机等先进技术驱动的数字库存。然而，我们并不是在讨论将条形码扫描器拉到四轴飞行器上，并希望它在飞行过程中捕捉到有用的东西; 我们正在讨论一种即插即用的空中机器人：  

• 通过完全自主的室内导航系统实现，该系统允许仓库无人机在仓库中自主导航并避开障碍物。
• 先进的计算机视觉和传感器结合人工智能，可检测，识别托盘并将其定位到机架位置。
• 自动将结果扫描上传到云端，并将其同步到WMS或任何其他库存管理系统。
• 可扩展和提高库存准确性，降低运营费用，并改善公司分销网络中的员工安全。

好消息是，如果人类可以直观地扫描仓库或商店中的库存，那么可以训练机器人做同样的事情。然而，机器人可以全天候运行，速度提高三百倍，并且提供以前从未达到过的准确性水平。 我明白没有简单的方法可以回答我的标题问题，但是我们可以以一定的确定性来说话的是，投资数字库存技术的组织在理解库存水平和能够更快移动库存方面获得优势整个供应链。这些公司还在重定向员工，以处理高价值活动，并为他们的团队提供丰富的信息，随后可以在任何时间和地点对其进行重访，并可用于做出更好的决策。 Matt Yearling是PINC Solutions的首席执行官。他于2013年3月加入PINC担任首席执行官，负责公司的整体战略和运营管理。Matt曾任职于赛门铁克公司的副总裁和加密产品总经理，Sage公司全球客户关系管理产品开发高级副总裁，Embarcadero Systems Corp（美国Ports公司）首席技术官。作为Oracle On Demand的副总裁，Matt在成为Oracle发展最快的业务线中发挥了关键作用。  0  In the United States, 250,000 manufacturing plants and warehouses support the activities of 4 million retail stores and e-commerce websites – and all of these operations carry inventory. But in the warehouses, less than 10 percent are using automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) to manage and move their inventories. That means the vast majority are still using racks and other storage solutions that require a lot of floor space (read: high real estate costs) and human labor. The nimblest of these operations, however, are extracting the full value of their real estate by integrating automation that ramps up their existing process, making them more productive without the need for huge capital outlays. In every warehouse or retail store there is an opportunity to add value, and the good news is that robotics and drones provide payback within three to six months (versus five to 10 years for AS/RS systems). There is a lot of value that can be eked out of just overlaying a piece of advanced technology in an existing facility, and a lot of smart companies are already benefitting from that. Anytime you can add more value the end result is going to be positive, irrespective of what environment you’re operating in or what market challenges you are dealing with. The road to automation isn’t going to be easy, nor is it going to be readily embraced by today’s supply chain organizations. In polling the executives that it works with across numerous industries, PINC has found that two-thirds of logistics spend is allocated to transportation and the remainder to warehousing. This is likely why so many companies are focused on innovations like self-driving vehicles. Interestingly enough, transportation only moves 10 percent of the average firm’s inventory, while 90% is sitting on the shelves or trailers at manufacturing plants, distribution centers, or out in a store. That tells us that companies are still carrying too much inventory, and that they’re not necessarily doing a good job of managing inventory levels. They are also struggling with out-of-stocks, poor accuracy, inventory shrinkage, and other problems associated with ineffective inventory management. To the company that is still using clipboards, spreadsheets, and outdated manual electronic readers to track inventory, it’s time to wipe the slate clean and get up to speed with digital inventory that is powered by advanced technologies like robots and drones. However, we are not talking about zip-tying a barcode scanner to a quadcopter and hoping that it captures something useful during its flight; we are talking about a plug-and-play aerial robot that is: Enabled by a fully autonomous indoor navigation system that allows the warehouse drone to autonomously navigate through warehouses and avoid obstacles. Powered by an advanced computer vision and sensors combined with artificial intelligence which detect, identify, and locate pallets into rack locations. Automatically uploading resulting scans to the cloud and synchronizes it to the WMS or any other inventory management system. Scalable and increasing inventory accuracy, reducing operational expenses, and improving employee safety across the company’s distribution network. The good news is that if a human being can visually scan the inventory that is in a warehouse or store, then a robot can be trained to do the same thing. However, robots can operate 24/7, three hundred times faster, and provide accuracy levels never achieved before. I understand that there is no easy way to answer my title question, however what we can speak to with a level of certainty is that organizations that are investing in digital inventory technology are gaining an edge in understanding inventory levels and being able to move inventory faster throughout the supply chain. These companies are also redirecting their staff to handle high value activities and empowering their teams with rich information, which can then be revisited at any point and time and can be used to make better decisions. Matt Yearling is CEO of PINC Solutions. He joined PINC as chief executive officer in March 2013 and is responsible for the overall strategic and operational management of the company. Matt’s past roles include vice president and general manager of Encryption Products at Symantec Corporation, senior vice president of Global CRM Product Development at Sage Inc., Chief Technology Officer for Embarcadero Systems Corp (a Ports America company). As vice president of Oracle On Demand, Matt played a pivotal role in making it Oracle’s fastest growing line-of-business.