Deploying Warehouse Solution: 5 Key Factors To Notice

Internet of Things (IoT) and e-Surveillance are essentials to transform your warehouse into an optimized space. Since the technology is still in its nascent phase, especially in India, decision-makers such as warehouse managers or heads of technology and infrastructure need pointers in how to plan for an IoT warehouse solution implementation.

As a technology head or a warehouse manager, there are multiple areas you need to take care of. The most important of these are focusing on what you want to gain from the project, the equipment and infrastructure needed, selecting an IoT partner, and then implementing the project.

This blog offers you professional insights on 5 key factors on deploying it in your warehouses.

At the outset of your IoT implementation project, it is important to know what your goals for the project are. Is your goal to reduce employee thefts, intrusions, and other untoward incidents? Or has your warehouse experienced a slew of warehouse accidents, which have led to employees getting hurt, and damaged equipment or products? Having a clear idea of your goals will help you define the scope of your IoT implementation.

5 Key Factors of Deploying Warehouse Solution

1. Equipment

An optimized and well-functioning IoT project consists of a mind-boggling array of sensors and other devices that communicate with each other. Some equipment that will be needed to complete an IoT deployment include:

• Sensors can be used to monitor intrusions, temperature increase, obstructions in warehouse aisle, and so on. Motion, temperature, proximity sensors can be deployed at strategic areas in your warehouse.
• IP CCTV cameras combined with sensors can provide valuable visual confirmation if something is amiss in the warehouse.
• RFID readers and tags – Shipments, pallets, parcels can all be tagged with RFID tagged which can then be read by RFID readers, thus tracking cargo as it enters or exits the warehouse.
• Handheld barcode scanners or stationary scanners can reduce the time as well as error rates by eliminating manual entry.
• Devices for personnel such as tablets, laptops, mobile stations, smartphones to log their activity.

These devices, when communicating with each other, can help you surveil your warehouse not only from the point of view of security but also identify areas of inefficiency. The analytics provided by the devices can point to operational inefficiencies e.g. If items in your warehouse are not RFID tagged, pickers might be spending too much time searching for items hiding in plain sight.

2. Network

A top-notch network is the backbone of a successful IoT deployment. Without a reliable network, IoT’s promise of connecting devices and people, and providing actionable insights falls completely flat.

Both wired and wireless networks can be used to transmit and receive information over an IoT network.

Wired infrastructure is based on Ethernet cables. Wired networks are mature technology, reliable, speedy, and reduce the chances of network intrusion, data loss due to distance, etc. They do require labor costs to set up and lack the mobility of wireless devices.

Wireless connectivity can be through Bluetooth, Z-wave for device-to-device communication, and through the warehouse’s Wi-Fi for the device to cloud communication. A wireless network may be cheaper to implement.

The volume of data collected can be in the order of exabytes, and in order to be effective, connecting the IoT infrastructure to a low-cost cloud store is also essential.

3. Security

Wireless IoT networks transmit data wirelessly over the internet, and vulnerable to breaches. If security is not set up correctly, unauthorized listeners can listen for and capture information. A simple way for a bad actor to do this is to use the factory settings of devices to glean information. There have to be processed by which only authenticated personnel and devices can be added to the network, and send and receive information.

Access control needs to be managed for individuals and devices, and should be only on a need-to-know basis e.g. a picker does not need access to shipment received data but does need accurate location information for products on his/her picking list.

There should be well-defined roles for individuals and responsibilities within the IoT infrastructure, with a defined SOP on how to handle maintenance, escalations, audits, and so on.

People and defined processes should be in place to protect and respond to events before a breach occurs.

4. Analytics

Real-time data collected will help you surveil your warehouse and realize significant operational efficiencies. By helping you cut down on accidents, shrinkage, theft, intrusions, and other negative events, IGZY’s remarkable IoT and e-surveillance solution for the warehousing sector not only helps you with all your platform needs but also provides you with analytics, alerts, IFTTT based SOP set up, to make sense of large volumes of data collected from your warehouse.

IGZY’s solutions can provide warehouse owners, managers, and operators the control and peace of mind they crave.

5. IOT Platform

An IoT platform consists of interconnected devices, including sensors, hardware devices, software, equipment, databases, servers, and security protocols.

No doubt, IoT platform can be developed in-house, but the field is still new in India. Since there are so many interconnections and communication, it might be wise to leverage a done-for-you IoT platform solution, in order to manage all the components of your warehouse IoT.

Globally, there are some names that can provide the cloud base for your IoT implementation: Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, etc. All these provide the cloud base for capturing the sensor data.

But what about the devices, sensors, and software you need for the IoT implementation?

That’s all left to you and your team to figure out.

A quick online search for IoT vendors in India reveals that most Indian IoT vendors are small organizations, recently established, and new to space themselves.

A company such as IGZY, which is a subsidiary arm of Kochar Tech and has a state-of-the-art e-surveillance solution with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities, is imperative for your team to engage with, especially if you are serious about a robust IoT e-surveillance solution for your warehouses.

India’s leading banks and logistics companies depend on IGZY to protect their vaults, branches, and warehousing facilities nationwide. Now your business can also benefit from the same level of top-notch security and safety we provide to banks.

Talk to our surveillance experts today and begin a ‘Phygital Transformation’ of your business.