Making Sense of AI and Machine Learning for the DC

The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around since the 1950s, but the use of AI to improve warehouse and DC operations is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, AI is expected to have a growing role in warehouse management over the next five years.

This article is intended to help operations, engineering and IT executives understand what they need to know about this emerging technology, and how it may be used in the near future to improve DC planning and operations.

Why The Sudden Interest in AI?

Real-world uses of AI in business have exploded in the past decade due to the exponential growth in data storage capacity and computer processing power. Armed with cost-eective data storage and computing resources, companies and software providers are applying machine learning techniques to analyze and interpret the masses of data collected in DCs.

These new AI/machine learning applications have the potential to provide DC managers and industrial engineers with insights to:

• Dramatically improve workforce planning and management
• Proactively re-slot products to improve efficiency
• Predict and eliminate stock outs and other exceptions
• Optimize automation/robotics alongside human workers
• Identify and implement process improvements