Technology is now critical to the warehousing industry. But leveraging them efficiently requires thorough assessment of the warehousing business, post which an effective solution and best practices can be determined. The key is to also understand future requirements of customers.

That said, continual evaluation of warehouse technology and purchase of latest technologies can often be expensive and counter-productive not to mention time-consuming. 

So when is the right time to upgrade?

The answer lies on 3 key aspects you need to evaluate.

• Current warehouse productivity
  
• Customer needs
  
• Growth aspirations
  

Here are 3 tips to help you with this process.

Analyze cost efficiency and customer requirements

New technology is supposed to decrease your costs and open doors to more profit. To determine cost efficiency, you can examine profitability by customer account. For this, you will need an open rapport with customers. Understanding their goals and challenges is key to figure out how to serve them better. 

If your analysis finds out that the technology you are currently using doesn’t complement the shift of warehouses from B2B to eCommerce, you will need to invest in a technology that can. The technology used for in-house operations can also make a difference obviously. Using high-performance warehouse picking solutions can streamline operations considerably, resulting in improved productivity that serve business growth.

Analyze cost of existing solutions

It’s a good idea to analyze the cost of existing warehouse technology solutions as well. This cost can include maintenance costs, lost opportunity costs etc. 

If there are a lot of customer complaints on your existing software or if the software is buggy and slow, prohibiting investment in a new technology but spending more to fix the existing one can quickly become counter-productive. In the long run, sticking to obsolete solutions can be costlier than investing in a new one.

Analyze competition and growth goals

Wouldn’t it be reassuring to know that a technology recently purchased by one of your peers delivered good results for them? You can also do some more research on your own, exploring online forums, software directories, review sites etc. This is not just to find the right solution but to gain deep insights on the kind of technology that’d work best for you. 

The next thing to assess is your own growth goals. Are you going to expand your areas of expertise? Are you going to expand within your market? No matter what your assessment is, you should always be prepared for changes that arrive often with little warning in the warehousing industry. 

Being proactive could give you good leverage when it comes to capitalizing on shifts in the industry ahead of your competition. Investing in new technologies, including even warehouse picking systems, is inevitable. It’s just a matter of when. Hopefully, you will get the insights you need to make a decision from these assessments.