Canadian Retailer - The Supply Chain & Logistics Issue - 9

PARTNER MESSAGE MICROSOFT CANADA

RETAIL LOGISTICS-IT'S MORE
THAN MOVING BOXES
Getting from A-Z with the help of intuitive technology
BY DAVE RODGERSON, Retail Industry Lead, Microsoft Canada

THE first time I saw them dance, it was

in New York. They looked so cool, turning and spinning as they flew across the
floor of the show. They moved quickly,
with a choreography that defied reason,
yet every move was precise. But this
wasn't an avant-garde ballet in a trendy
art house. These were warehouse robots from Kiva Systems on the floor
of the National Retail Federation "Big
Show". Amazon was impressed...they
bought Kiva in 2014. Now you'll find
those same robots in retail warehouses
around the world.
Managing the logistics function of
a warehouse and distribution network
Robotics helping to streamline the retail supply chain.
may seem almost industrial at times.
But they are critical functions for any retailer. There was a Web Service) is a cloud offering that
time when the operations were managed with manual pro- is readily available for retailers. The
cesses and calculations. Today, the volume and complexity issue that the retailer faces is that they
of this function requires a more sophisticated approach. Pre- look at Amazon as the competition,
dictive analytics and machine learning are just as valuable so they find it difficult to partner with
as variations in fuel costs. To meet these challenges, com- them by using their cloud service.
panies like Rubikloud have developed analytic tools that Logistics may not be one of the
leverage machine learning to juggle all of this information.
most glamorous parts of the retail in Another area that's having an impact on logistic solutions dustry, but it's changing as much as
is the Internet of Things (IoT). Being able to connect devices any other part of the business. With a
attached to everything from ships, trucks and pallets has future that promises driverless transprovided incredible access to information throughout the port trucks and drone deliveries the
supply chain. It's now possible to track and measure every- face of distribution and logistics has
thing from temperature and humidity of produce to the real- become a lot more interesting.
time location of your truck fleet.
I spoke with Gary Newbury, a subject matter expert in last
mile fulfilment and retail logistics about this evolution. He For more information about Microsoft
and what it can do to help your
commented that "the biggest challenges for any retailer is Canada
business, visit www.microsoft.com.
having full visibility of exactly where each item is within the
supply network extending back into each supplier, and dealing with a mix of pallet handling for stores and single item
picking, supporting individual orders, cost effectively".
All this technology requires a new way to manage the information. Companies are now looking to cloud solutions that
can be scaled up to match their seasonal peaks. That evolution
has sparked a whole new issue for retailers. AWS (Amazon

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THE SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS ISSUE

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