Automated sortation is a process designed to streamline daily operations, making it easier for organizations to sort through various products each day. While the sorting process is often considered a time-consuming and tedious task that requires effort, automated solutions can resolve the problem. As a result, organizations that rely on sorting to conduct business can depend on an automated system that frees up time and enables them to delegate other tasks to their employees.
Are More Businesses Making the Switch to Automated Sortation?
As technology advances, so does the number of companies relying on automated sortation to pick and sort items often sent out to their customers. Although major corporations with larger budgets have already made the initiative to rely on automated sortation because these companies deal with thousands of items that need sorting each day, smaller companies are following the lead and getting involved in automated practices that will benefit them now and in the future. Getting more done enables businesses to produce better results while exceeding the expectations of their customers.
What Are the Primary Benefits of Automated Sortation?
Those unfamiliar with automated sortation may be unaware of the many benefits associated with this technologically advanced approach to picking and sorting. In the past, companies have had to rely on employees standing in a line by a conveyor belt, picking and sorting as fast as possible, which could easily result in human error, even with the most experienced pickers and packers. Those mistakes are now much easier to avoid when automating the sortation process. In fact, the benefits of this automated process are tremendous and include:
Minimal Errors – Automated sortation helps drastically reduce common errors. Companies no longer have to stress over the possibility of workers making costly, time-consuming mistakes that would need to be rectified. It’s far less common for errors to occur when using automated sortation as a feasible solution.
Effort & Time Saved – Instead of having employees stand by the belt and help with sorting, companies can rely on their employees to handle other tasks, which will help them save time and effort during the picking process. In addition, this can improve business flow, resulting in excellent productivity rates for organizations of all sizes.
Reduced Processing Time – In the past, companies may have had to increase processing time because of the time it would take for employees to get through the picking and sorting process. However, when automating such a process, picking and sorting happen at a significantly faster pace, thus resulting in reduced processing times. Processing at a more rapid pace benefits companies and the customers they cater to who would like to receive their merchandise sooner rather than later.
While these are several advantages of automated sortation, many others exist, including lower overhead costs for order processing, and energy conservation during the sorting process. Both big and small businesses can benefit from relying on an automated process that offers countless advantages and ultimately saves them more time when handling daily operations.
Custom-Tailored Automated Sortation Options
When choosing to go with automated sortation to improve business practices and boost productivity, companies will have the opportunity to select custom-tailored solutions that meet their business needs. For example, several types of sortation automation are available, including slow, medium, and high speed, each of which can come in handy for companies with different goals and daily objectives.
When speed isn’t a factor, and a company simply needs some assistance with the picking process, a slow-speed automated sortation solution would work well enough, helping to sort different items and place them in the correct departments. However, if a company needs to complete the sorting process as quickly as possible and time is of the essence, they would need to rely on a high-speed solution that would work much faster than employees would be able to sort when completing the process by hand.
How Fast Is Automated Sortation?
The speed of automated sortation will depend on what a company selects. The slow-speed option can get through about 30 items per minute, which is fast enough for some companies, especially those unable to meet those numbers when relying on employees to handle the sorting process manually. However, other companies may need to be able to sort more items at an even faster pace to keep up with daily loads and responsibilities. In that case, a medium-speed or high-speed solution would be necessary, where they’d have the opportunity to get through a minimum of 200 items and up to 450 items every minute.
The best way for any company to decide on the speed it needs when setting up automated sortation is to consider a few different factors, such as the number of items requiring sorting each day. Companies may also anticipate heavy loads at certain times throughout the year, such as peak seasons. And in that case, they may want to ramp up the speed and go from having a low-speed automated sortation solution to a high-speed option that works rapidly to provide the absolute best results for their organization.
Is Automated Sortation Worth It?
Automated sortation is worth utilizing for many reasons. Whether a company deals with thousands of items each day or just a few hundred, this automated solution can help them save time, effort, and energy, ultimately putting that time and energy into something else that will benefit the business. While picking and sorting is something millions of companies have done for decades, most initially relied on employees to handle these tasks by hand, leading to more errors and mishaps than any company could ever want to experience. Because of current advanced technology, companies can put a stop to these human errors and rely on a solution that benefits everyone involved, including the employees and the customers who depend on their products.
With access to advanced logistics solutions, businesses have the potential to exceed customer expectations and experience tremendous growth because they’ve relied on automated sortation to streamline certain business processes. Companies that haven’t made the switch should consider using this advanced solution because of everything it offers.
