What is Warehouse Orchestration? A Guide for Supply Chain Pros

Warehouse orchestration is designed to address modern distribution challenges by unifying various data sources into actionable plans.

Complexity is a constant in warehouse operations. Between labor shortages, enhanced customer demands, increased automation, and an influx of data sources, supply chain professionals have a lot to juggle.

Warehouse orchestration brings clarity to this chaos by synthesizing all of the disparate data inputs involved in your warehouse. While it may seem like a cutting-edge concept, warehouse orchestration is quickly becoming a necessity for organizations aiming to maximize efficiency and minimize operational hurdles. 

Like many industries, distribution can be slow to embrace new methodologies; 77% of warehouse decision-makers admit to being slow to implement new technology, despite recognizing the need to modernize their operations.

Investing in a warehouse orchestration platform could be the difference between falling behind and streamlining your operations. AutoScheduler.AI provides a platform for companies that want to implement orchestration and achieve measurable improvements in productivity, cost savings, and customer satisfaction. 

As the landscape continues to evolve, warehouse orchestration offers a powerful pathway to a more streamlined and resilient supply chain.

What is warehouse orchestration?

Warehouse orchestration is the strategic coordination and management of processes, resources, and systems within a warehouse or distribution center to optimize operational efficiency, minimize costs, and improve overall productivity. It involves leveraging data-driven insights, technology, and automation to synchronize activities such as inventory management, labor allocation, workflow optimization, and real-time decision-making.

Warehouse orchestration is a methodology that involves synthesizing data from various sources to create dynamic, optimized plans for managing the operational flow of warehouse facilities. It is typically enabled by a warehouse orchestration platform, which utilizes machine learning and AI to streamline task execution and simplify labor forecasting.

Orchestration platforms analyze data from existing inputs — warehouse management systems (WMS), labor management systems (LMS), transportation, production, inventory management, etc – to provide a top-down view that empowers staff with actionable insights.

Why is warehouse orchestration important?

Warehouse orchestration helps supply chain leaders and staff address the inherent complexity of modern distribution. 

A variety of challenges can strain efficiency and disrupt warehouse operations: outdated manual processes, data silos, labor shortages, inaccurate inventory tracking, poor dock scheduling, etc. Each of these issues adds a layer of complexity that often requires years of operational know-how. Not every team has a crew of veteran leaders to navigate these choppy waters.

Warehouse orchestration provides a unified approach to these challenges. By automating routine tasks, optimizing labor allocation, and providing real-time visibility across operations, orchestration minimizes bottlenecks and allows warehouses to run smoothly and adapt quickly to change.

Platforms such as AutoScheduler consolidate data from disparate sources into one orchestration layer, eliminating inefficiencies caused by fragmented systems. This not only drives operational efficiency and resource utilization but also empowers teams to meet rising customer expectations with accuracy and speed. All of this means staying competitive in an increasingly demanding market.

What are the benefits of warehouse orchestration?

The benefits of warehouse orchestration are both practical and strategic, including positive impacts on productivity, budgeting, safety, and client satisfaction

Increased productivity

When it comes to warehouse operations, productivity increases pay the bills. By deploying AutoScheduler’s orchestration platform, PepsiCo increased pallet movements by over 30% at pilot sites. Other AutoScheduler clients have seen up to a 20% increase in in-line efficiency, and a 5% increase in on-time rates.

By automating task assignment and sequencing, orchestration enables facilities to handle higher volumes with greater efficiency. This translates to faster movements, fewer missed deadlines, and happier clients.

Greater visibility

Access to an orchestration layer provides operators with a more comprehensive view of their warehouse operations. Managers gain more transparency into their facility’s inventory status, labor allocation, equipment usage, and order progress. This reduces the need for reactive problem-solving, given that warehouse orchestration software flags potential issues proactively.

Enhanced decision-making

Increased visibility tends to have a positive effect on decision-making.

Orchestration answers many warehouse operations-related questions before they’re even asked. Managers and shift leads won’t have to physically cross-reference dozens of reports or tools. An orchestration platform such as what is available through AutoScheduler.AI will pull data from inventory, activation plans, production lines, and more to optimize plans automatically. 

This eases the burden of logistical planning. Leaders have more time for big-picture strategic planning to improve the warehouse.

Cost savings

Orchestration helps reduce waste and avoid costly errors by ensuring that resources are allocated optimally across the warehouse. As a result, companies can achieve higher throughput with lower labor and operating costs.

Improved labor management

Orchestration can improve safety by reducing congestion in high-traffic areas and ensuring that labor is distributed evenly throughout the facility. Everyone from shift coordinators to pallet operators can get their job done more effectively and get things out the door in a more optimal fashion. Warehouse orchestration typically means fewer headaches and stress for your team.

What are the keys to warehouse orchestration?

It’s important to remember that implementing an orchestration layer isn’t easy. Orchestration requires some important components, including:

• Quality data: “Garbage in, garbage out,” might be cliche, but it’s also true. A certain level of data maturity is required for proper warehouse orchestration. Ensure you’re maintaining the data from your WMS, LMS, transportation systems, inventory management systems, and so on.
• Clear SOPs: Mapping out your base-layer, day-to-day functions will help you identify areas of improvement for your orchestration plan. You have to know what you’re optimizing in order to optimize it, after all. 
• Change Management and Training: Rolling out AI solutions always requires commitment. Decision-makers must effectively communicate the status of changes and provide employees with the resources to embrace orchestration.

A well-designed orchestration strategy will be able to scale as your business grows, offering continued benefits over time.

What is an example of warehouse orchestration?

AutoScheduler’s partnership with PepsiCo is a great example of warehouse orchestration in action. 

As PepsiCo’s warehouses grew more complex, the company faced challenges in managing site flows, labor, and real-time demand. Peter Hall, Warehouse Orchestration Senior Manager at PepsiCo, made the decision to implement the AutoScheduler.AI platform after first attempting to develop an orchestration layer in-house.

By deploying AutoScheduler’s orchestration platform, PepsiCo was able to automate and optimize workflows, allowing its warehouses to handle multiple, non-linear site flows efficiently. PepsiCo improved pallet moves by 30-35% at pilot sites without increasing labor or equipment, demonstrating the potential for orchestration to dramatically enhance efficiency and productivity.

AutoScheduler is the industry’s leading warehouse orchestration platform.

A best-in-class warehouse orchestration platform can power your operations. 

AutoScheduler’s AI-driven platform focuses on labor planning, inventory workflow, human-robotics interaction, and space utilization, optimizing operations and maximizing OTIF rates and labor efficiency.

With prescriptive analytics, our clients can enhance efficiencies and generate value across their supply chains. Our dynamic warehouse orchestration provides continuous optimization, adapting to changing conditions 24/7. We offer predictive capabilities to prevent operational disruptions and comprehensive real-time visibility for all management levels, ensuring optimal use of labor, resources, and space.