More companies investing in warehouse visibility technology

More supply chain executives are implementing warehouse visibility systems to complement their analytics data, according to a survey from supply chain technology company Longbow Advantage, released Monday.

The firm surveyed supply chain and warehousing executives about their use of warehouse visibility technology and found that most agree that such systems can improve performance in the warehouse and across the broader organization. Nearly 300 C-suite executives, vice presidents, directors, and managers from across the United States responded to the survey, officials said. More than half said they are seeing between a 5% to 10% increase in efficiency from their warehouse visibility technologies, and a quarter said they’re seeing between a 10% and 15% efficiency gain.

Slightly less than half said they’re experiencing a 5% to 10% increase in operational cost savings as a result of warehouse visibility technologies, and another third said they’re seeing a 10% to 15% increase in operational savings.

“Supply chain systems globally are feeling all kinds of pressure with everything from constrained transportation systems, labor workforce challenges, and supplier material shortages,” Alex Wakefield, CEO of Longbow Advantage, said in a statement announcing the survey’s findings. “... supply chain executives realize that the warehouse is central to the entire supply chain operation, and they need better visibility into what their data is telling them so they can make faster decisions in real-time.”

Nearly 70% of organizations said they need better visibility into the procurement functions of their warehouse, followed by production and labor (65%), and fulfillment (37%), for example. What’s more, most businesses (72%) said they will focus on aligning traditional supply chain strategies with digital analytics solutions over the next 12 to 24 months. Sixty-four percent said they’ll be focused on defining an advanced supply chain systems strategy. Another 34% said their focus will be on executions and refinement of newly installed systems and solutions.