Monitoring in intralogistics
The word ‘monitoring’ is defined by the Collins Dictionary as the “act of observing or recording an engine or other device or its activity or performance”. Cambridge Dictionary defines the verb ‘monitor’ as “to watch and check a situation carefully for a period of time in order to discover something about it” and Oxford Dictionary as “to observe and check the progress or quality of (something) over a period of time; keep under systematic review”. From the perspective of business needs, the aim of monitoring is to gain an overall view of all relevant information at a single glance. In general, monitoring means having real-time control tools used for the knowledge-based management of target-oriented operations.
Monitoring vs. reporting
Monitoring is often mentioned in the context of reporting, and you could easily think that the two words can be used interchangeably. However, despite some similarities, they actually mean two different things.
Both monitoring and reporting are planned, implemented and used as a part of management. They are both are used to examine critical success factors, and both require the right metrics. But there is a difference between the two terms. The main difference between monitoring and reporting lies in the way in which data is collected and managed. In essence, monitoring is based on the collection and management of real-time data, whereas reporting is based on historical data which is usually at least one day old.
The goals of monitoring
The most essential goal of monitoring is to present real-time data in an easily digestible and understandable format, allowing for quick decision making and identification of bottlenecks. Monitoring thus involves real-time knowledge-based management: the focus is more on the present and future than on the past.
The aim of monitoring is to create the conditions for assuming a proactive approach and a culture of continuous improvement at all levels of the organization. Therefore, it is crucial to have the right metrics for the right site and for the right target group.
Monitoring in intralogistics
In intralogistics and in warehouse environments, monitoring can be used for tracking, for example, the progress of daily receiving and picking tasks. The current situation can be visually presented to the work supervisors, allowing them to quickly detect and react to any abnormalities. For example, if a picking task is lagging behind, the work supervisors can notice this and assign extra resources to picking without delay.
With the help of monitoring, users can be easily presented with different kinds of status information in a readily understandable format. Employees at different levels of the organization can effortlessly check, for example, the overall status of the current day’s deliveries when the statuses of the day’s order rows are presented in a visual way. This provides the employees with a comprehensive view of how many order rows are still waiting to be picked and how many rows are currently in picking, in the packing area or waiting in the dispatch area, as well as how many orders have already been dispatched.
Another thing that can be measured and is worth measuring in real time is the delivery reliability of the warehouse. Quite often, delivery reliability is measured based on historical data only, but to achieve maximum benefits, real-time monitoring is needed. For example, if some order rows will fail to be delivered, you will detect this already on the day of delivery and you can thus react to the situation right away.
Roima Monitoring
Roima offers an excellent monitoring tool with which you can efficiently manage your operations with accurate, real-time data. Roima Monitoring can be used on all terminal devices, such as computers, tablets and smartphones.
If you would like to know more about Roima Monitoring, please contact your own Roima contact person or Roima’s sales team. We will be happy to tell you more and discuss your needs!
