A bustling warehouse, filled with endless rows of shelves and stacks of boxes, is now common, especially during big promotions. But as the global e-commerce market booms, the demands upon warehouses increases. That’s why more and more manufacturers and logistics companies are integrating their Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) with video security systems which can track individual parcels throughout their journey to the customer.
The online shopping trend is booming, making everything from daily essentials to luxury items just a click away. In 2023, the global e-commerce market was valued at USD 25.93 trillion, and is expected to grow rapidly, with a CAGR of 18.9% from 2024 to 2030. This surge in e-commerce means that warehouses will need to cope with a tremendous increase in the volume of parcels that must be handled and delivered. This is a clear opportunity for companies that provide services such as warehousing, logistics, and transportation.
The struggle of warehouse operators
However, with this growth comes the ever-increasing challenge of tracking and securing thousands of parcels each day to ensure they reach customers’ doorsteps safely. Each and every parcel needs to be tracked throughout its journey through the warehouse in order to prevent loss or damage. Moreover, because being able to do this can impact customer experience, especially if something goes wrong, then many warehouse operators now regard this as one of their top challenges.
The issue becomes particularly critical when an item goes missing. Should a customer complain, the warehouse needs to review the video footage of the packaging process to understand what happened and take appropriate actions to address the missing item.
In such circumstances, it has been hard to find video evidence of specific parcels passing through – and leaving – the warehouse because Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) have tended to operate completely separately from video security systems. Manually searching through numerous videos to locate problematic orders is a highly time-consuming and labor-intensive process. This process can be further complicated if the footage that does exist is unclear. It is not surprising that many warehouses find it extremely hard to visually track the individual parcels that they handle.
The good news is that there are solutions available today which greatly speed-up such video tracking processes, producing extremely clear, reliable information on demand. This, in turn, reduces costs, improves operational efficiency and, ultimately, increases profits. Such systems tend to include:
A visual capture of the packing process
A strategically positioned high-definition depth-of-field camera is usually placed at the packing table. This captures the entire scene and provides clear images of waybills, labels, and other details.
Unified data integration
Warehouse operators use barcode scanners or PDAs to input parcel information quickly and efficiently. The parcel information is then matched and archived based on time, place, parcel ID, and corresponding video footage. The integrated data is synchronized with the central management system to create a cohesive tracking network.
Streamlined search and playback
If a customer reports a missing item from their order, the warehouse can rapidly locate and review the recorded video of the packing process by entering the parcel ID. Such quick retrieval of relevant video clips provides clear evidence and reduces search time from hours to seconds.
Hikvision’s end-to-end visualized parcel tracking solution offers all of these features, making it ideal for warehouses. It provides seamless integration with existing warehouse management systems if required. Alternatively, a simpler deployment is possible using Hikvision’s HikCentral Professional platform. In both cases, the solution minimizes loss, improves overall efficiency, and enhances the overall experience for both businesses and consumers in the supply chain.
Unlocking more warehouse digitalization opportunities
Hikvision’s partners have found that this parcel tracking solution enables them to deliver clear, high business value. It also provides an excellent entry point for expanding into additional areas of the user’s digitalization business.
In Malaysia, for example, Hikvision’s partner, Ebumi, has successfully implemented this parcel tracking solution in various types of warehouses, including those for e-commerce, department stores, apparel, and cosmetics. “Hikvision’s parcel tracking is an indispensable application for warehouse operators. It has significantly increased my market share by bringing my products and services to more warehouses. Moreover, this solution is very easy to deploy, with short project cycles, making it a small yet functional solution.”
