Waldkirch, November 2023 – Goods receipt has been confirmed, but no-one can find the package – time and time again, this scenario involves time and energy wasted on searching, disrupted workflows, and additional costs and stress. The answer: complete, real-time transparency in goods receipt – which is made possible by SICK’s all-in-one solution for automated goods receipt. Based on a digital platform for gathering, processing and preparing package-relevant data, it employs cutting-edge scanning technologies to reliably manage even the heaviest shipment traffic. The solution is individually customizable – from manual to fully automated package recording – and can be easily integrated into customers’ handling and sorting systems.
Valid information on all shipments is the basis for transparency and optimized processes in goods receipt. The heavier the traffic, the more data there is to reliably and efficiently gather, process and prepare. In order to meet individual customer requirements regarding the identification and sorting of packages, these system solutions for automated goods receipt are available in scalable degrees of automation.
Manual package recording with high-performance scanning systems
Heavy workloads, few employees, and no overview of the goods received – all these challenges are arguments in favor of using digitalized master data, even when shipment traffic is relatively low. When goods are unloaded from the delivery vehicle onto the company’s palettes, employees scan each package, ensuring it is recorded in their goods receipt system. In this way, those waiting on urgently needed shipments are informed as early as possible. Duty-unpaid shipments can be sorted out for customs processing immediately after being scanned – so they don’t have to be retrieved from the warehouse later. The same applies to returns and repairs – they can also be quickly and easily recorded and made available. If needed, the solution can also be combined with SICK’s indoor localization system, offering users precise positioning data and allowing them to validate storage locations. The digital solution for automated goods receipt manages all shipment- and process-relevant data, ensuring transparency and efficiency in manual goods receipt processes.
Automated goods receipt: Fewer staff, more master data
A fully automated, all-in-one solution for goods receipt can make good financial sense from traffic levels of between 150 and 300 packages. It consists of a ramp and conveyor system in the goods receipt area; a scanner portal as stationary identification system, which automatically records all incoming shipments; and a sorting line. In this workflow, as a rule the delivery driver is who puts the packages on the conveyor belt – allowing to you to use your own personnel more efficiently. Moreover, stations for measuring the packages’ weight and volume can be also be added to the line – duties that would mean more work for employees in the case of manual package recording. This additional data not only improves transparency regarding how many shipments actually come in at goods receipt – it also offers valuable information as the basis for e.g. contract negotiations with parcel service providers, for discrepancies concerning individual shipments, ensuring shipments are delivered in their entirety, and for settling claims.
Visualizing data from the digital platform using dashboards
No matter whether you choose one of SICK’s manual or fully automated all-in-one solutions for goods receipt – the data is visualized on the digital platform’s dashboard. You can use the platform to find a package or call up information on individual packages. Which parcel service delivered which packages, with which shipping number, and how the packages can be divided into categories like “express,” “duty-unpaid,” “return” or “repair” – it’s all displayed in real-time.
SICK’s all-in-one solution for goods receipt also holds considerable potential for the future: A deeper integration into customers’ existing OT and IT systems is conceivable, so as to e.g. combine them with ERP systems and offer additional, digital value-added services.
Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_RSP6pMSGE
SICK is one of the world’s leading solutions providers for sensor-based applications in the industrial sector. Founded in 1946 by Dr.-Ing. e. h. Erwin Sick, the company with headquarters in Waldkirch, Breisgau near Freiburg ranks among the technological market leaders. With more than 50 subsidiaries and equity investments as well as numerous agencies, SICK maintains a presence around the globe. SICK has almost 12,000 employees worldwide and generated a group revenue of around EUR 2.2 billion in the 2022 fiscal year. Additional information about SICK is available at www.sick.com