ASTRO WMS®

Challenges: 

• Changes in the buying behavior
• Lack of customer insights
• Suboptimal article placement in the warehouse

Solution: With the help of artificial intelligence, Article Association analyzes customers´ buying patterns and advises on the optimal placement of products. The results: higher picking efficiency, lower transport and forklift maintenance costs, less packaging material usage, and improved sustainability in your warehouse.

Challenges: 

• Shortage of warehouse operators 
• Employee downtime 
• The need for a more efficient and adequate resource planning  
  

Solution: Using data from the WMS up to a 4-year historical period, combined with AI algorithms and machine learning, the AI Workforce Prediction makes assumptions for the future about how much workforce you will need for your different processes to meet deadlines and minimize labor spend. It can predict workflows for up to 12 weeks.  

Challenges: 

• Lack of clear overview of operations
• More frequent and robust seasonal peaks to handle
• Increasing time pressure for fixing problems
• The need for better forecasts 
• Slow and costly process for training warehouse personnel

Solution: The Digital Twin is a computer-generated model of reality which makes it possible for you to walk around your warehouse in real-time 3D without leaving the office. You can easily identify bottlenecks, try out configuration and layout changes before realizing them, and provide an innovative training tool for your staff, thus reducing risks and saving on operational costs.

Challenges:   

• To fulfill a high number of orders in time 
• High maintenance cost of forklifts 
• Congestion by forklifts in the warehouse 

Solution: Goods Move Optimization mixes and optimizes different assignments based on where you are and what you do. You can minimize travel distance for goods moving, save 35% on forklift travel, and decrease congestion in the warehouse..

Challenges: 

• The need for sales stimulation
• Low picking efficiency for kitting
• More expensive transport costs due to shipping multiple boxes for kitting workflow

Solution: Kitting/BOM allows you to pick a set of components into a collection or a kit for customer delivery. You can prepare various market offers (bundles), improve customer satisfaction, reach up to 90% reduction in transport costs, and decrease your inventory and package material costs, thus running a greener warehouse operation.

Challenges: 

• Logging charges for warehouse services
• Different pricing contracts for 3PL customers
• Lack of proper reporting on performed warehouse activities

Solution: By using the data and logging of Astro WMS®, 3PL Billing allows an effortless way to bill 3PL customers. Benefit from charging accurately for warehouse services, easy adaptation to contract variants, and the quick onboarding of new 3PL customers.

Challenges: 

• Frequent changes in labels and documents
• Delivery notes produced in different styles by ERPs and other platforms
• Difficult tracking of delivery notes

Solution: OpDoc allows you to quickly and easily create or modify labels and documents, improving your control over your printouts. Have total flexibility in your design work, generate delivery notes in different languages, and tailor documents to your customers' needs.

Challenges: 

• Operational information is shared inefficiently among staff
• Monitoring does not adapt to current business demands
• There is a need for faster decision-making and a clear overview of operations

Solution: OpView is an easy-to-use business intelligence tool that gives a clear and visual overview of your operations in real-time. It collects data from one or more sources, allowing you to control your warehouse operations better, make smarter decisions faster, and achieve better performance results by keeping your employees engaged. The module is optimized for mobile.

Challenges: 

• The need to speed up picking
• Pressure to perform more tasks with the same resources
• Requirements to meet sustainability KPIs

Solution: Pick Group Optimization analyzes historical ordering patterns with artificial intelligence, learns which articles are ordered together, and suggests moving the articles to a more optimal pick area. The module shortens pick routes, cuts down on picking time, and can reduce shipped boxes by 16%, allowing you to improve sustainability in the warehouse. 

Challenges: 

• Slow picking processes
• Resource wasting due to inefficient pick routes
• Costly maintenance of forklifts
• The need to improve work conditions of warehouse personnel
• Pressure to meet sustainability goals

Solution: The Pick Route Optimization minimizes the travel distance of a pick round by re-sorting the pick route with artificial intelligence, enabling your staff to work smarter and faster. The module can decrease the length of pick routes by more than 20%, saving you hundreds of kilometers of truck driving, reducing wear and tear of forklifts and the use of electricity, thus running a more sustainable operation.

Challenges: 

• At least 30% of all packages contain unnecessary air¹
• High shipping costs due to suboptimal packaging of orders
• Wasteful use of packaging material

Solution: With the help of artificial intelligence, Smart Box Calculation selects the optimal packaging for each individual shipment, covering not only dimensions but also materials and transportation costs. You can avoid shipping unnecessary air, which saves you both money and resources. 

1 Source: https://www.ehandel.se/postnord-ska-leda-kampen-mot-paketluft-vi-har-ett-ansvar 

Challenges: 

• Prime storage location wasted on slow movers
• Frequency classification only valid for short-term
• Too much time spent on optimizing product placement

Solution:  Slotting analyzes and adjusts the right placement of goods in the warehouse based on picking frequency, allowing you to optimize space and improve throughput. The module can lower operating costs by 30% per picked line.

Challenges: 

• Complex handling of large numbers of shipments with many different carriers and receivers
• Lack of control and traceability of the entire supply chain
• Increased need for quality post-purchase communication with customers

Solution:  Supply Chain Visibility is a real-time control tower that lets you track warehouse performance in one view, monitor customer orders and returns, take action on deviations, and ensure a superior post-purchase experience for your customers. The module connects you to carriers, service providers, and 3PL companies, so you stay up to date with the delivery process.

Challenges: 

• Changing consumer needs
• Growing demand for value-added services in the warehouse
• Lack of clear instructions and visuals for the required actions

Solution: Value-Added Services (VAS) controls additional services your warehouse provides to inbound and outbound goods. The module allows you to lower process costs, reduce inventory, develop accurate and transparent pricing for each VAS activity, and elevate the customer experience.

Challenges: 

• High intensity of picking
• Strong need for picking accuracy
• Heavy goods handling
• Demanding work environment (e.g., cold storage, freezer)

Solution: Voice-controlled systems guide your operators where to go and what to do in the plant or warehouse, allowing them to move freely. The solution enables you to increase productivity, correct up to 80% of picking errors resulting from choosing the wrong product or quantity, and create a more inclusive work environment with greater safety and ergonomics.

Challenges: 

• Growing demand for express delivery
• Lack of trailer or shipment visibility
• Shortage of real-time insights into yard operations for safety compliance
• Inefficient tracking of loading units

Solution: Yard Management facilitates and organizes the coming, going, and staging of loading units within large parking yards or transportation hubs outside the walls of your warehouse. It provides full visibility and control of what is happening at the gates, parking lots, and docks. Optimizing yard operation allows you to meet short transportation lead times, use your workforce better, and reduce your environmental footprint.

Challenges: 

• Handling of substances and products that can pose a risk to health, safety, property, and the environment is complex
• Regulations and documentation vary over time and between countries
• Labeling and tracking activities demand extra sources

Solution: The Dangerous Goods module ensures the smooth handling of dangerous goods, saving time and costs in the warehouse. Forget Excel documents and manual handling. The solution gives you better options for working with your product range without the limitations of transport challenges.