Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf: The Efficiency Revolution and Practical Path of Enterprise Comprehensive Material Warehouse Management

In the increasingly fierce competition in the enterprise supply chain, the comprehensive materials warehouse as a production security, cost control and supply chain coordination of the core hub, its management efficiency directly determines the operational toughness of the enterprise. From the production of raw materials, spare parts to office supplies, labor insurance materials, the traditional warehouse relies on manual counting, experience scheduling model, always facing inventory distortion, process inefficiency, loss control and other pain points, it is difficult to adapt to the modern enterprise scale, refinement, agility of the development needs.

Digital Intelligent Materials Management Shelf is supported by Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Intelligent Control Technology as the core, which reconstructs the whole process control logic of materials from warehousing, storage, inventory to warehousing, breaks the dependence on experience and information barriers, and realizes the leap from reactive response to proactive prognosis, and from sloppy management to precise control. In this paper, we will systematically analyze the core value, practice scenarios and landing paths of digital intelligent material management shelves to provide a practical guide for enterprises to crack the warehouse management dilemma and build an efficient and intelligent warehousing system.

First, the traditional enterprise comprehensive material warehouse management of the four core pain points, urgent need to break the game

Enterprise comprehensive materials covering a wide range of categories, specifications, the value of the span, and involves production, administration, logistics and other departments in coordination, the traditional warehouse management model of the sloppy characteristics, has become a constraint on the core bottleneck of the enterprise to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and its pain points are concentrated in the four dimensions of efficiency, cost, data and wind control.

1. Process inefficiencies and significant time constraints on core operations

The traditional inventory of materials need to manually check the quantity, specifications, batch by batch, time-consuming hours, and easily due to visual fatigue, negligent operation of the counting errors; the receipt of the link relies on the submission of applications, departmental approvals, manual issuance, the long process of signature registration, the average time consumed by a single receipt of more than 30 minutes, the urgent production needs, the supply of materials lagging production line stoppage of waiting for the material is very easy to trigger. At the same time, manual records are prone to fuzzy handwriting and wrong information, leading to discrepancies between accounts and facts, and subsequent traceability requires a lot of time for checking, which not only squeezes the time of core business, but also directly reduces the overall operational efficiency of the enterprise.

2. Inventory imbalances, backlogs and stock-outs in a vicious cycle

Most enterprises rely on regular manual inventory or simple ledger management, inventory data update lags behind, unable to grasp the real-time dynamics of materials. In order to avoid the risk of stock-outs, enterprises often blindly overstocking, resulting in a large number of materials backlog, not only take up storage space, but also the accumulation of liquidity, part of the easy to expire, easy to wear and tear materials will also be idle for a long time resulting in waste; and fast-turnover materials due to the lack of accurate early warning, often temporary supply, forcing enterprises to start emergency purchases, which not only increases the cost of procurement, but also due to the delay in the supply cycle of the production schedule, into the vicious circle of backlog and waste coexisting with the risk of stock-outs. Waste and out-of-stock risk co-exist in a vicious circle.

3. Data distortion and lack of scientific support for decision-making

The data of each link of material management is scattered in different systems or paper ledgers, and the procurement data, inventory data, and consumption data are separated from each other, which can't form a complete data closed loop. It is difficult for enterprise managers to accurately grasp the pattern of material consumption, inventory turnover efficiency and demand trends through data, procurement plans, inventory strategies rely on empirical judgments, resulting in decision-making bias, further aggravating the imbalance of inventory and waste of resources, and the management has always been stuck in the sloppy stage.

4. Difficulty in controlling risks and overlapping compliance and operational risks

Traditional shelves lack of real-time monitoring and traceability mechanism, material storage environment is difficult to guarantee, easy due to temperature and humidity abnormalities, improper operation lead to material damage, expiration date; high-value material consumption lack of accurate control, easy to overconsumption, illegal consumption, and even material loss; once the material quality problems or supply chain risks, it is difficult to quickly locate the responsible link and responsible person, compliance risk and operational risk continue to superposition, directly The compliance risk and operation risk continue to superimpose, which directly pushes up the comprehensive cost of the enterprise.

Technology Enablement: Core Architecture and Value Logic of Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf

Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf is not a single equipment upgrade, but a data-centric, technology-supported, integrated solution that combines intelligent hardware, algorithmic models and business systems to realize the whole-process intelligent upgrading of warehouse management by breaking down the information barriers, reconfiguring the business process and activating the value of data.

1. Technology base: multi-technology convergence to build a smart foundation

The technical architecture of Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf is supported by Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. Internet of Things technology through RFID tags, intelligent sensors, intelligent control modules, indicator systems, material identification, real-time positioning, weight perception and environmental monitoring, so that the state of materials can be sensed, traceable; big data technology integration of procurement, inventory, collocation, consumption and other full chain data, to build a unified data center, providing data base for decision-making; artificial intelligence algorithms based on historical data and real-time demand, to achieve demand forecasting, inventory optimization, intelligent replenishment, cargo space allocation and other core functions, so that management from empirical judgment to shift to the core support of goods allocation. Based on historical data and real-time demand, artificial intelligence algorithms realize core functions such as demand forecasting, inventory optimization, intelligent replenishment, and cargo space allocation, allowing management to shift from empirical judgment to data decision-making.

2. Core structure: closed-loop control of the entire process to achieve precision and efficiency

The shelf builds a closed-loop management structure around the whole life cycle of materials, covering the five core links of warehousing management, intelligent storage, dynamic inventory, outbound management and inventory optimization. Inventory link, through RFID identification, automatic weighing, code scanning verification, to achieve rapid acceptance of materials, automatic registration, synchronization associated with the purchase order, to ensure that the account is consistent with the real; storage link, relying on intelligent space allocation algorithms, according to the material category, turnover rate, storage requirements, automatic allocation of space, to achieve the precise positioning of the material and environmental adaptation; inventory link, the use of RFID batch inventory, dynamic weighing inventory, instead of manual piece-by-piece inventory, inventory efficiency increased by 801T. Inventory link, using RFID batch inventory, dynamic weighing inventory, replacing manual piece-by-piece counting, inventory efficiency of more than 80%, real-time synchronization and updating of data; out of the warehouse link, docking production plan, collocation demand, automatic generation of picking tasks, shelf indicator guides accurate picking, to achieve the whole process of traceability; Inventory optimization link, based on the demand prediction and inventory model, dynamically adjust the safety stock, replenishment strategy, to achieve the balance between supply and demand of inventory.

3. Value logic: leapfrogging from efficiency gains to value creation

The core value of Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf is to realize the triple optimization of efficiency, cost and risk control. At the efficiency level, through process automation and intelligence, it can significantly shorten the time consuming process such as warehousing, inventory, and discharge, release the core business time, and improve the efficiency of warehousing turnover; at the cost level, it can reduce the backlog and waste through accurate demand forecast and inventory optimization, reduce the labor cost and logistics cost through refinement of accounting and process optimization, and realize the precise cost control; at the risk control level, it can avoid risks such as shortage, backlog, quality, compliance, etc., and guarantee the stable operation of the supply chain, by means of the full-process traceability, real-time monitoring and authority control. At the risk control level, through the whole process of traceability, real-time environmental monitoring, and accurate control of authority, we can avoid the risks of out-of-stock, backlog, quality, and compliance, and ensure the stable operation of the supply chain, and ultimately promote the transformation of warehouse management from a cost center to a value center, and provide the core support for the resilience of the enterprise's supply chain.

Third, the practice of landing: the number of intelligent material management shelves in the enterprise comprehensive material warehouse core application scenarios

The value of digital intelligent material management shelves has been fully verified in the practice of various business scenarios in enterprises. Under different scenarios, the shelves are adapted to the needs through customized functions to achieve accurate improvement in management efficiency, and build up a full-scene intelligent management and control system for enterprises.

1. Intelligent warehousing of raw materials for production: guaranteeing production continuity and improving supply chain responsiveness

Raw material is the core guarantee of enterprise operation, which directly affects the production rhythm and delivery capacity. Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf connects with production plan and MES system, obtains production work order and raw material demand in real time, and automatically generates procurement plan and replenishment warning by combining safety stock, procurement cycle, raw material turnover rate and other parameters to ensure timely supply of raw materials. At the same time, the shelves are linked to the intelligent picking system, which automatically guides the raw materials out of the warehouse accurately according to the production demand and reduces the manual picking error and waiting time. After the introduction of shelves in an automobile manufacturer, the shortage rate of raw materials decreased by 92%, the inventory turnover rate increased by 50%, the downtime of production line due to the shortage of raw materials was shortened significantly, and the supply chain response speed was improved significantly.

2. Accurate control of spare parts: optimizing inventory structure and reducing operation and maintenance costs

Spare parts are characterized by high value, irregular demand and strict storage requirements, and traditional management is prone to backlog waste or emergency shortage. Based on the equipment operation data and failure history records, Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf builds equipment failure prediction model to accurately predict the demand for spare parts and realize on-demand stockpiling; the shelf carries out real-time monitoring on the storage environment of spare parts to ensure the stable performance of the spare parts and avoid damage to the spare parts due to environmental problems. At the same time, through the intelligent inventory and inventory warning, real-time mastery of spare parts inventory status, to avoid repeated procurement. After the application of an energy enterprise, the amount of spare parts inventory backlog dropped by 40%, the emergency supply response time was shortened by 65%, the operation and maintenance cost was significantly reduced, and the stable operation of equipment was guaranteed.

3. Self-service management of office and labor insurance materials: streamlining the process and enhancing the employee experience

Office supplies, labor insurance supplies and other materials have a high frequency of use, complicated categories, low value of the characteristics of the traditional manual issuance mode of inefficiency, the staff experience is not good. Digital Intelligent Materials Management Shelf relies on the intelligent grid and self-consumption terminals to realize self-consumption of materials. Employees can open the corresponding grid through the work badge and face recognition, and the shelves automatically record the consumption information without manual registration; the shelves can also automatically adjust the amount of material reserves according to the departmental needs and historical consumption data to avoid wastage. After the introduction of an Internet enterprise, the time for office material requisition has been shortened from an average of 20 minutes to 2 minutes, employee satisfaction has been greatly improved, the material waste rate has dropped by 45%, and the administrative operation cost has been significantly reduced.

4. Exclusive control of project materials: accurately matching demand to ensure project progress

Project materials involve many categories, long cycles, and fluctuating demand, and traditional management is prone to mismatch, overconsumption and waste of materials, which affects project progress and costs. Digital Intelligent Material Management Shelf takes the project as the core, establishes the exclusive management module of project materials, connects with the project plan, automatically generates the material demand list, realizes the whole process of purchasing, warehousing, and receiving, and links with the project progress; the shelf real-time monitors the consumption of the project materials, and automatically warns of over-consumption, to avoid the waste of materials; after the end of the project, the shelf automatically calculates the cost of the materials, and provides the data support for the review of the project. After the application of an engineering enterprise, the over-consumption rate of project materials decreased by 58%, and the efficiency of project materials costing increased by 75%, effectively guaranteeing the project schedule and cost control.

Fourth, the key to landing: the core of the efficient implementation of digital material management shelf to protect

Digital intelligent material management shelf value landing, need to combine the actual needs of enterprises, do a good job of the whole process of planning and implementation, to avoid falling into the equipment idle, data silos, process disconnect predicament, the core need to grasp the four key links.

1. Needs research and top-level design to anchor the direction of transformation

Enterprises need to comprehensively sort out their own material category structure, business processes, management pain points and strategic objectives, clear shelf construction of the core needs, such as inventory optimization, process efficiency, or cost control, risk prevention and control. On this basis, the joint professional service providers to carry out top-level design, the development of covering the shelf structure, functional modules, implementation steps, expected results of the overall program, to ensure that the shelf construction and corporate strategy to match, to avoid blind investment. At the same time, set up a cross-departmental project team to coordinate the needs of production, procurement, warehousing, finance and other departments, to ensure the synergy of the shelf landing, to avoid departmental barriers that lead to the disconnect between the shelf function and the actual needs.

2. Systems integration and data governance to bridge information barriers

System integration is a prerequisite for realizing full-process intelligence, and it is necessary to promote the seamless docking of digital intelligent material management shelves with existing systems such as ERP, MES, OA, and financial systems, and to clarify the data interface standards to realize the real-time synchronization of material demand, purchase orders, inventory data, collation records, and cost data, and to break the data silos. At the same time, data governance work is carried out to unify basic data such as material codes, specification units, departmental information, etc., clean up redundant data, ensure the accuracy, consistency and completeness of data, provide a reliable data base for intelligent decision-making, and avoid shelf decision-making bias due to data confusion.

3. Process re-engineering and people empowerment for smart models

The application of digital intelligent shelves is not only a technical upgrade, but also a change in business process and management mode. Enterprises need to combine the shelves with the function of reconfiguring the materials into the warehouse, storage, inventory, warehousing and other business processes, simplify the redundant links, clarify the responsibilities of each link and operating standards to ensure that the process and the shelves to adapt. At the same time, for different positions to carry out layered training for front-line employees to explain the operation process and exception handling, for managers to train the data view, report analysis and decision-making methods, for technical staff to carry out shelf operation and maintenance training, to ensure that all staff are proficient in the application of shelves; the establishment of incentives to encourage employees to take the initiative to adapt to the intelligent mode, to avoid unskilled operation or resistance to the psychological cause of the efficiency of the shelf can not be brought into play.

4. Iterative optimization and operation and maintenance safeguards to achieve long-term value

The value release of digital intelligent shelves is a continuous iterative process. Enterprises need to establish a shelf operation effect assessment mechanism, regular analysis of inventory turnover, collocation efficiency, cost reduction rate, out-of-stock rate and other core indicators to identify the problems in the application of shelves and optimization of space; at the same time, the establishment of a demand feedback channel, according to the expansion of the business, management needs change, joint service providers continue to optimize the shelf function, expand the application of scenarios, to match the needs of enterprise development. In addition, set up a professional operation and maintenance team, responsible for shelf routine maintenance, fault troubleshooting, data security and hardware calibration, to ensure the stable operation of shelves, regular shelf inspection and performance optimization, to ensure that the shelves create value for the enterprise in the long term, to avoid the shelves due to a lack of maintenance and gradual failure.

V. Conclusion

At a time when digital transformation has become the core competitiveness of enterprises, comprehensive material warehouse management has been upgraded from traditional logistics support to support the core strategic links of enterprise cost reduction and efficiency, and enhance the resilience of the supply chain. Digital intelligent material management shelves to data as the core, supported by technology, reconstructing the entire process of warehouse management, cracking the traditional model of efficiency, cost, wind control pain points, and promote enterprise warehouse management from experience-driven to data-driven, from passive response to active prediction, from sloppy management to the transformation of fine management and control.

In the future, with the continuous maturation of artificial intelligence, digital twin, edge computing and other technologies, digital intelligent materials management shelves will evolve in the direction of smarter, more flexible, more integrated, to achieve in-depth integration with the enterprise production, supply chain, finance and other systems, to provide enterprises with more accurate demand forecasting, more efficient inventory optimization, more comprehensive risk control capabilities. For enterprises, take the initiative to embrace digital intelligent material management shelves, not only is the inevitable choice to cope with the current market competition, but also the layout of the long-term development, build core competitiveness of the key initiatives, will certainly inject a strong impetus for the high-quality development of the enterprise to help enterprises in the fierce competition in the market to seize the first opportunity to move steadily to the future!