Automate Warehouse Operations to Save Time and Improve Inventory Accuracy and Safety

How Align Enables Construction Firms to Automate Warehouse Processes

Anyone that has worked in a construction warehouse or yard knows that it can be tough to keep up with all the field requests and inventory moving in and out of the location. Yet staying organized is critical to delivering a high level of service to the field and ensuring those projects have what they need. Thankfully, warehouse technology has come a long way, and the Align platform was built from the ground up to support construction warehouse operations.

Beyond accurately keeping track of your warehouse inventory, Align also automates many warehouse processes, which saves time, reduces your dependence on labor, eliminates operational waste to reduce costs, and even empowers your team to manage procurement proactively, mitigating some of the impact of supply chain issues. Let’s look at a few of the warehouse tasks Align automates.

1. Auto-generate Pick Tickets from Digital Field Requisitions.

Fulfilling requests from your field teams to move projects forward is at the core of warehouse work. Since multiple projects rely on your warehouse simultaneously, delays caused by slow, manual processes can quickly compound and cause project delays.

Automation reduces response and fulfillment times so that your field teams can keep projects moving instead of waiting for the needed items. Once you digitize your inventory on Align (more on that to come), you will have a real-time catalog of all tools, equipment, and other materials available to your field teams.

Field teams may use any mobile device to search the catalog for the assets they need, add them to their cart, and submit their request. These digital requests then auto-generate pick tickets for the warehouse team. Once picked, these items are transferred digitally and physically to the job site.

2. Create Maintenance Schedules and Automate Service Reminders.

Broken and non-functioning tools and heavy equipment are a huge source of project delays, which project managers and supervisors despise. Align provides the capability to set up automated service schedules to extend the lifespan of all equipment and avoid unexpected timeline delays, all while ensuring the safety of your field workers.

These capabilities are not limited to maintenance; Align also supports equipment inspections and calibrations, and the records from these service events can be used for compliance reporting. Align also automates service reminders, ensuring your warehouse team is ahead of service events, not behind the eight ball.  

3. Automate Low Inventory Level Notifications and Auto-populate Purchase Orders. 

Roadblocks caused by restocking delays are common, and although efficient operations cannot eliminate delays entirely, leveraging automation mitigates the impact and risks they create. To help your warehouse team stay ahead of the curve, Align offers low-level browser notifications and proactively alerts warehouse staff when an inventory item is running low and needs to be reordered based on a specified low-level range.

Align can also auto-populate purchase orders to facilitate fast re-order when items run low to avoid inventory outages, keep your projects moving, and keep your warehouse staff focused on higher-level work. 

Conclusion

Once you accelerate your inventory management processes with Align’s automation capabilities, your warehouse staff can accomplish more without needing additional resources. Imagine assets being restocked before they run out and tools efficiently shared among job sites, minimizing supply chain disruption and productivity. 

This is how future-ready construction companies innovate operations. If you haven’t adopted this type of technology to improve your construction operations and warehouse management, we encourage you to take your business into the world of automation and start with your key warehouse processes—reach out to our experts today to request a demo.