Page 13 - ITLN May - June 2022 issue

“A completely automated FC (fulfilment
Automation cost & continuous training
of diversified workforce develops high
synergy wrt size ,nature & requirement
of sector . Not only in India, but also in
other countries, the majority of fulfilment
centres and warehouses adopt a hybrid
approach. Where volumes are high and
technology use is high, full automation
is observed. I estimate that 35% of
warehouses out of the total will be entirely
automated in the next 5 years,”said
Dakshesh Shah, CEO, SK Logistics.
Flipkart, India's native e-commerce
platform, announced the opening of
India's largest fulfilment facility in
Haringhata, West Bengal, in April.
This new fulfilment facility will
employ over 11,000 people and serve
about 20,000 vendors from the state
and the North East area.
The facility is developed with
technology such as automated storage
and retrieval, robotic packing arms,
cross belt sorters, and a 9 km long
network conveyor belt to minimise cargo
transportation turnaround time by 35
percent to 50 percent.
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centre) is a reality in India. Automation
was formerly a dream since the primary
motivation for automation was to save
cost. However, things had changed
dramatically. The point of automation is
no longer to save money, but to improve
speed and dependability. Even if my labour
is less expensive, if I have a 10 lakh square
feet of FC, I would be unable to deploy
2000 workers just to pick the material and
deliver it to the dock; it will be chaotic.
Furthermore, instances such as Covid,
where individuals are not accessible to
work, have served as a wake-up call for
everyone to reconsider automation as an
entity. These factors, in my opinion, are
becoming a pressing need for automation
in India,” said Omkar Karandikar, Head of
Planning and Design at WareIQ.
Every new update requires
employee training
As technology advances, fresh upgrades
and improved versions of the technology
are deployed. As a result, training in those
technologies becomes required in today ’s
competitive environment.
“We are constantly training our
people, but this is not an easy process.
Empowering people to work in new
ways and to make best use of installed
automation requires cultural and
behavioural changes as well. When
we introduce new technology, such as
battery operated trolleys, we must train
and prepare our people to guarantee that
they can operate the new technology with
confidence and monitor continuously
to correct any gaps. We have a highly
dynamic workforce, with the majority of
people between the ages of 35 and 40
who can grasp the advancements. It's
not easy, but with their high alignment,
We are constantly they can use their intellect and work
smarter,” said Shah.
training our people, “We have an elaborate way of training
but this is not an easy our workforce and we have to do it often
process.Empowering because there will be a lot of features
people to work in new which are released from our partners.
ways and to make the Many times the marketplaces will also
best use of installed come up with additional requirements
and we will have to enable it in our FCs.
automation requires For example, there were days where
cultural and behavioural paper based picking was enough, but if
changes as well. I have to get everything done, pick, pack
Dakshesh Shah and dispatch in a short time, I have to get
SK Logistics into a scan-based system, where we are
today. Soon there may be a 15 minutes
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May - June 2022