Now that eCommerce has blossomed into the giant industry it is today, online retailers find automation is a more pressing need. Supply Chain Brief reports that Amazon hired over 120,000 workers one holiday season just to fulfill the influx of online orders—not a light expense! Automating the warehouse is no easy feat, since some operations in the supply chain management field are currently better handled by humans than robots. A fully-automated warehouse would be a supply chain dream, but we haven’t reached that point yet unfortunately. However, companies have made improvements in other areas which have streamlined processes. Automating the warehouse is an easier task with use of an industrial grade tablet, and here’s a few reasons why.

On-Demand Warehouse Feedback with Industrial Tablets

One obvious problem with automation is “the machine” can—and will—fail from time to time. Even Tesla’s self-driving automobiles have a track record of failing when on self-driving mode, a record recently improved through functionality implementation. The same can happen in an automated warehouse—the incorrect product is picked by a machine, a scanner can malfunction, or a conveyor belt can break down, essentially bringing production to a halt. The best way to avoid cascading problems is to have the right individuals notified of a problem immediately. If a conveyor belt breaks, managers with industrial tablets can receive instant feedback of what has malfunctioned and where—or perhaps even control automation systems remotely. Keeping information transfer as quickly as possible allows people to make the right decisions in an event of automation failure. If warehouse managers don’t have that immediate access to information via an industrial tablet, automation failure can be costly—it’s clear a battery-powered, tough tablet is the solution to keep automation problems addressed.

Traceability by RFID Technology

Since the consumer purchase process has turned highly automated in the past 15 years, the needs for the supplying warehouse must meet those demands. Traceability is necessary in an automated warehouse, and so all products need to be marked with RFID tags to track where they move. Without immediate and constant access to tracking any one item in an automated warehouse, companies are at the whim of human mistakes, automation errors, mechanical failures, and other factors. That’s why it’s important for warehouse managers to have battery-powered industrial tablets—lightweight, rugged computers that provide necessary tracking information through RFID. That’s just one method how companies are automating the warehouse to keep efficiency high.

Industrial Tablets Must be Made Industrial-Strength

Warehouse managers won’t be looking for the best rugged tablet crafted out of Fabergé eggs. Similarly, they won’t want a tablet rivaling the size and heft of a tank. Tablets must be lightweight to reduce fatigue and rugged enough to withstand several drops onto a warehouse floor. Managers also need a tough tablet with protection from hazardous materials—water and tablets don’t mix. Tablet users need to be free of tethers and safety hazards, so a battery-powered solution is a must. Plus, barcode scanners are crucial to warehouse operations in order to identify and count product.

The Cybernet Industrial Tablets Solution—the Rugged Windows Tablet X10

Cybernet has our best rugged tablet to assist with automating the warehouse—the X10 industrial grade tablet! It’s capable of withstanding constant shock damage, sand and dust exposure, temperature extremes, prolonged exposure to humidity, and random vibration with it’s MIL-STD-810G design standard, a standard maintained by a partnership between the US Navy, US Army, and the US Air Force. The tablet can also resist water splashes and sprays to it’s front bezel with it’s IP65 rating. This tough tablet is portable around an automated warehouse with hot-swappable batteries that can keep it running all day. Plus, the tablet weighs 2.2 pounds with the batteries installed! Automating the warehouse may not be a fully-realized vision, but industrial tablets like the rugged X10 are helping supply chain professionals ensure current systems in place are running smoothly and mishaps can be addressed with minimal downtime.

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