In my previous blog, we delved into the paradigm shift in warehouse and distribution center (DC) functions and uncovered key themes and insights from our live Q&A with Reuters Events, Prologis and Henkel held on June 29. Here, we address those themes and how DELMIA’s Warehouse Experience—a virtual experience solution for warehouses and DCs—can accelerate transformation to ultimately establish the Warehouse of the Future.

1. Operational Visibility

Integrated visibility across your operations, driven by a single source of truth, helps establish a connected, unified and collaborative infrastructure that enables increased flexibility and optimization of operations. For example, modeling your warehouse with the Virtual Twin Experience delivers a unified view of simulated physical systems, providing all relevant stakeholders visibility into processes and procedures in the virtual twin to better understand bottlenecks, constraints and more. It also enables flexibility to introduce changes that are swift, trouble-free and minimize downtime.

2. Increased Process Automation

E-commerce is driving service expectations to levels typically unattainable without the use of automated alternatives to manual operations. This urges us to look within existing environments to identify opportunities to introduce automation into existing facilities, which requires the added complexity of orchestrating work across semi-automated operations. Such a scenario introduces the question of how to create an optimal environment to orchestrate work across manual and automated areas to ensure efficient operations and maintain quality and service levels— which DELMIA solutions can help you achieve.

3. Accelerating Transformation

Many changes have been taking place in warehouses over the last 20 years to boost efficiency and productivity in operations. Most changes appear subtle to the eye, such as warehouse management systems, automation, scanning and voice guidance systems—all of which are combined to make warehouses more efficient, less impactful on the environment and less reliant on manual labor. DELMIA can help you accelerate your transformation journey. With our best-in-class solutions, powered by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, you can automate, integrate and optimize your manufacturing and supply chain processes to prime your operations for the Warehouse of the Future.

4. Platform for Success

Traditional footprints, system capabilities and business processes will be challenged when faced with the introduction of automation. And though there are reliable technologies and infrastructures to drive transformation, they are often incapable of enabling seamless integration to fully manage data flows, let alone drive agile automated operations.

A platform approach to operations, coupled with the use and implementation of the necessary technology infrastructure, can drive optimization, enhanced decision-making and operational resiliency—even in times of disruption. Centrally leveraging all your data and information with analytics from a single source of truth allows collaboration with suppliers and extended stakeholders, which eliminates delays in responding to changes and can save time and costs.

5. Sustainability

Sustainability is indeed at the heart of any operations transformation. At Dassault Systèmes, we view sustainability as a three-pronged initiative, involving people, planet and profit. DELMIA’s Warehouse Experience enables companies to reduce their impact on the environment by driving waste elimination, energy efficiency, the use of alternative sources of energy and resource optimization. From a “people” perspective, you can minimize enterprise-wide inefficiencies leveraging virtual universes to simulate real-world experiences that help people foresee the impact of their decisions, allowing them to make the necessary improvements​. These factors, if executed effectively, will culminate in more profitable and sustainable business and operations.

Digital transformation with DELMIA’s Warehouse Experience allows organizations to elevate productivity, planning and operational efficiency and reduce warehouse-related costs and emissions through these key capabilities:

• Model your warehouse digitally for easier and more accurate digital representations of your physical assets, workflows, data and operational activities.
• Unlock the workforce talents of today to enable the workforce of tomorrow with ready access to knowledge and know-how.
• Innovate in a unified, real-time, multifaceted environment by having a centralized view, control and synchronization of workflows for all stakeholders in your logistics ecosystem.
• Real-time optimization to recognize and correct inefficiencies and react to address potential risks of disruption in our increasingly digitized world.

The world of logistics is constantly changing, and we’d like to help you reimagine your warehouse operations against the backdrop of new realities. Many organizations from various industries have benefitted from our future-proof warehouse operations solutions.

To learn more about solutions and strategies for modernizing your warehouse and DC operations, download our eBook The Warehouse of the Future.

View our infographic for a quick look into how DELMIA can help you modernize your warehouse and DC operations to successfully navigate the ever-evolving world of logistics.