The economy of any country is based on how fast goods travel between points. From Ports to warehouses and from warehouses to distribution points and thereafter. overtime, a disruption at any point, there would be a cascading effect, causing major interruption to the entire flow. It would be more like a domino effect.
It is also pertinent to remember that logistics do not depend on just the movement of goods but warehousing too. Any delay in warehousing of the goods and there would be major challenges for everyone to complete the assignment.
One such challenge is to bring orders to cold storage warehouses. Cold storage warehouses are used to store perishables like vegetables, fruits, meat, and seafood. These perishables must be kept at controlled temperatures to prevent any of the food items from going bad.
In the olden days, ice used to be a major headache since industrial refrigeration used to be non-existent. With the advent of technology, massive and robust warehouse systems came into being and they were being supported by automated temperature control systems. These intelligent temperature control systems would perfect the flow of air towards those perishables which would require greater focus.
A cold storage warehouse is not just a warehouse with a refrigeration system. It is an organic and dynamic storage unit that is responsible for the livelihood of many workers. Companies spend a huge amount of money on warehouse management systems. A cold storage warehouse management system looks after the inventory and provides timely notifications to the management of impending events like the movement of trucks and invoicing.
What is Cold Storage Warehouse Management?
The legal definition of cold storage warehouse is a cooled facility designed to store meat, produce, dairy products, and other products that are delivered to other locations for sale to the consumer.
The legal definition of cold storage warehouse management system would be an automated system that will guide the operator and the management of the cold storage warehouse about the different activities. It is an environment that will provide real-time tracking of logistics, inventory, invoices, and finances.
It is primarily software that helps managers, owners, and operators in trying to manage the entire paraphernalia linked to warehousing. Tracking thousands of goods from a cold storage warehouse, manually, is near impossible, though in the olden days, that was the norm. However, with changing times, the methods have changed.
There are many aspects to Cold storage warehouse management.
What are the responsibilities of the Cold Storage Management System?
Food Safety
The modern consumer wants their food to safe and secured before they consume it. They would require a ton of information before buying it. Hence, the management system will have to provide the expiration date of the product, the temperature at which it has been stored, the quarantine control mechanism, and in the event, the product is returned, product recall.
Receipt and Storage of Inventory
Every food product has its demands of storage. Cooked food will need to be blast chilled while raw food, meat, and seafood must be frozen. A cold storage warehouse management system will be providing information regarding cross-docking, blast freezer receiving, catch weight receive, and blind receiving. It is extremely important to know how the products will have to store to prevent them from going bad and the company incurring a financial loss.
Workforce Productivity
One of the vital tasks of the software is to forecast and predict workload. Workload management is one of the most important aspects of management. It involves daily working hours, leaves, over times et al. The main pillars of workforce productivity improvement management are labor management, forecasting, planning, and scheduling and reporting.
Improved storage Efficiency
To improve the overall storage efficiency of the cold storage warehouse, proper utilization of space must be calculated. Actions like multi-depth route optimization, temperature storage allocation and pick by voice and pick by light are implemented in the optimal manner.
Smart Outbound
An effective logistics software in Canada will have to handle multiple activities efficiently. From packaging products to distributing them to various quarters, the system will have to be precise. The usual pillars of smart outbound processes are loading dock scheduling, carrier integration, packaging and reworking et al.
Real-time inventory Management
This is the most important part of a warehousing system. Real-time inventory management systems can do the following activities:
· Stock Depletion alerts
· Excess Stock alerts
· Shelf and space utilization
· Product and storage zoning
An error in any of the following categories will lead to a cascading effect that may have severe financial implications.
A cold storage warehouse management system is a logistics software, that assists the logistics team in accelerating the process of storing and distribution and is a must for any large-scale business.
