Warehouse and cargo theft is a global problem. Statistics vary, but in the United States alone the cost of cargo theft is reported to range from $15 billion to 30 billion dollars every year. Exact numbers are difficult for the simple reason that many thefts go unreported.
In the first quarter of 2018, cargo theft recording firms SensiGuard and CargoNet released reports on cargo theft in the United States and Canada. Both reported that a decline in the number of thefts and the average value of theft from the first quarter of 2017. CargoNet reported a total of 159 theft cases and SensiGuard reported 115 thefts in the first quarter, a 23% drop year-over-year. CargoNet also reports a decrease in the average value per theft case.
Despite this drop in theft cases, CargoNet reports that on average each theft case was $90,883 in the first quarter of 2018. If you take that average and multiply it by the 159 reported cases that are over $14 million in losses due to cargo thefts – and just within the first quarter of the year.
Despite the downward trend in theft cases, there are still millions of dollars being lost every year in the warehouse and cargo industries. One way that companies can mitigate this problem is by using technology to visualize and better track assets through interactive mapping. Tracking inventory, data and people can be difficult, but with help from technology, inventory losses can be significantly reduced.
Interactive maps have many different utilizations that can be integrated to help with inventory tracking, loss prevention, and optimization for warehouses. Interactive maps allow data and product information to be visualized in an easy to understand format, accessible to all those who need to see it, from anywhere in the world and on desktop and mobile devices.
There are different tracking systems that warehouses use to track product movement, from barcode scanning to warehouse-wide RFID tagging, among others. But without a way to visually see where items are and the past and planned movement, it can be difficult – spreadsheets serve a purpose, but it’s much easier to take it into a visual format that offers both high-level and granular detail.
Here are three ways that interactive maps can support warehouse security and logistics.
Inventory Tracking
The first thing that a 3D interactive map can do for your warehouse and logistics facility is to accurately represent it with indoor maps. The more accurately your facility is represented, the more you can do with the map when it is complete. Every area can be perfectly recreated, along with the loading bay, offices, storage closets, doors to other rooms, and emergency resources mounted to the walls.
Additionally, with digital twinning (physical assets represented one-to-one in the digital realm), your entire inventory can be represented in the exact location, marking the location and choosing from a few optional visual assets to use as representations of product on shelves. With the right software and RFID tags, you can see the movement of assets from one place to another easily and even track things that have not been shelved yet like palettes waiting on the loading dock. Likewise, you can also easily note the location of new packages or shipments that have been assembled and are waiting for transport.
Knowing where your inventory is supposed to be and how the warehouse is supposed to look is critical.
Route Optimization
There are many ways to track inventory such as barcodes and RFID, but the systems in place to organize and best use these tracking systems are not always clear. Warehouses are large and often busy, and an interactive map can offer heat maps of congestion and interrupted flow. From this business intelligence, new layouts can be created digitally. Once tested, it will be clear to see how the heat maps compare to previous layouts and flows.
Additionally, integrated point-to-point indoor navigation systems make it easy for employees to find their way around, and to assist others with finding the optimal route. This is the ultimate tool for streamlining staff time by preventing aisle wondering, doubling-back, and accidentally taking the long path around the shelves.
Also, if an employee is going for a specific item, they get the items in the best possible order possible with an optimized route based on their access level and needs of that particular item.
Loss Prevention
Accurately tracking inventory is the key factor when it comes to avoiding theft and product loss. Great steps have been made, yet despite technology currently in place, improvements can always be made to reduce inventory loss.
In almost every warehouse, there are at least a few things that should be tracked individually. High priced products in limited stock are often tracked one at a time to ensure that shrinkage doesn’t occur with your best inventory. And with interactive mapping technology, you can do more than just read every barcode that passes through. You can easily add RFID tags, customized barcodes, or even radio transmitters to track the important stock in the warehouse if you have not already.
Also, in a fast-paced industry, asset tracking is very useful for the equipment inside the warehouse or construction facility. Using sensors to track your key facility assets can ensure that losses are reduced, and – when it happens – to identify the last location of assets.
Using an interactive map can help your company keep a closer eye on inventory and as a result, help your company lose less product and money.