In today’s retail environment across the Southeast Asia region where customer expectations are constantly evolving, a key differentiator has become the ability to handle diverse products and deliver orders rapidly, accurately and at the lowest cost to various channels including brick and mortar stores and online customers, where they want it and when they want it.
The growth in e-commerce has further heightened the need for optimised and efficient order fulfilment processes. Customers demand products to be affordable, readily available, delivered quickly, without errors and expect a seamless returns process. To remain competitive, businesses must navigate complexities such as increased product ranges, seasonal fluctuations, and disruptions caused by environmental and geopolitical factors.
This makes supply chain performance and efficiency paramount for retailers seeking to gain a competitive edge in Southeast Asia. However, supply chains face numerous challenges: labour shortages and reliability, increasing costs, and land & real-estate constraints to combat transportation challenges and be close to customers who expect speedy delivery. With all these fluctuating market dynamics, supply chains can become a competitive differentiator.
Supply Chain Automation
Many Southeast Asia and global retailers, including leading online retailers, recognise that supply chain automation technologies are an imperative for addressing these challenges. These companies – large and small – have been investing in logistics automation systems as a key strategic enabler and differentiator for optimising customer service levels while minimising costs, and enhancing supply chain resilience and agility.
Four automated order fulfilment solutions — Dematic Multishuttle®, AutoStore™, Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) Bin-to-Picker and Shelf-to-Person — have emerged in Asia and globally as the leading solutions for supply chain optimisation.
Working on the Goods-to-Person (GTP) principle, where automated storage engines deliver product for orders automatically to pickers at ergonomic workstations, each of these solutions provides significant benefits in terms of productivity (from 250% up to 600% increase versus manual systems, with the corresponding decrease in labour required), increased capacity, speed, accuracy, flexibility and scalability. These systems can be tailored to fulfil different types of orders in the one system, whether to retail stores and/or online purchases. Advanced software oversees and manages the system, ensuring seamless integration into host systems, optimal performance and comprehensive management, reporting and decision-enabling capabilities.
AS Colour: Multishuttle GTP
Premium apparel company, AS Colour, embarked on a strategy to support its expected growth over the next decade by building a new 7,500 square metre distribution centre in Auckland, New Zealand. A key automation feature of the new DC was the deployment of the Dematic Multishuttle GTP system to help increase throughput by 344% per worker, drive accuracy, fulfilment speeds, operational efficiencies and reduce the overall size and power requirements of its warehouse.
“The Multishuttle GTP system has been a game changer for our business, and we’ve actually seen a big increase in sales in New Zealand as a result of having it in place because our customers see how fast and accurately we get their orders to them,” says Lawrence Railton, Managing Director, AS Colour
Radial: Bin-to-Picker AMR
Radial Europe is a leading global e-commerce third-party fulfilment provider whose fashion, health and beauty customers include doTERRA, Calvin Klein, Cole Haan, Express, Gymshark, Lucky Brand, TaylorMade and Tommy Hilfiger.
With a commitment to customer and operational excellence, and facing challenges of high-volume volatility, a sprawling storage area, and a diverse array of 20,000 constantly changing products, Radial deployed an innovative Dematic Bin-to-Picker AMR system at a new facility in the Netherlands.
The system comprises 300 robots delivering products automatically to pickers. The system provides a significant improvement in operational performance, with picking speeds quadrupling and accuracy significantly increased, all in a reduced footprint.
“We are now in a stronger position where we can fulfil every requirement a customer has. They simply tell us what they want to have happen and we can do it. Automation has proven to be a tremendous help in achieving the goals we had from the start,” says Ron Kleinsmit, Warehouse Manager at Radial Europe.
Benetton Group: Autostore
Benetton Group, one of the best-known fashion companies in the world , implemented a Dematic AutoStore system at its logistics facilities in Italy to boost the company’s e-commerce channel by optimising storage capacity and order processing.
Mobile robots, traverse the top of high-density storage units to retrieve items in bins and deliver them to pickers, significantly enhancing picking efficiency while reducing travel previously undertaken by Benetton staff.
“We chose Dematic because we were interested in a partner with significant experience in the e-commerce sector and a solid international background,” says Valentino Soldan, Head of Logistic at Benetton Group. “The AutoStore-based solution will meet our business needs perfectly, and we are confident in facing an increasingly challenging market with a structured and technologically advanced solution, capable of accompanying our development for many years to come.”
Comparative Analysis
Each automation solution offers unique advantages and considerations, making it essential for businesses to carefully evaluate their options before making a decision. Bin-to-Picker AMR systems prioritise speed and flexibility, making them ideal for dynamic environments with fluctuating order volumes. AMR Shelf-to-Person systems are typically applicable in small order fulfilment systems or where headroom utilisation, storage capacity, pick rates, and ergonomics are less of a consideration. AutoStore excels in maximising storage density and space optimisation, making it suitable for businesses with space constraints. Multishuttle systems prioritise throughput and scalability, making them ideal for high-volume fulfilment centres where productivity is of utmost importance, and with the capability to go high, they potentially provide the highest storage capacity in tall warehouses.
Automation a Necessity to Stay Ahead of Your Competition
Automated order fulfilment solutions offer tremendous potential for enhancing supply chain efficiency and agility. In an era defined by rapid change and intense competition, automation is not just a luxury but a necessity for businesses seeking to thrive in the Southeast Asia retail landscape.
To help companies determine which automation solution is the best fit for their operations, Dematic has released an Optimising Store and Online Order Fulfilment eBook, deep diving on the challenges facing retailers, opportunities for optimisation and competitive differentiation, and evaluating the features and benefits of these leading automation technologies. Download the eBook.
By: Garret Lu,Senior Sales Manager for Dematic Asia.
