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Fig. 23. Evolution of IT systems for logistics
Source: J. Bendkowski, M. Kramarz: Logistyka stosowana metody, techniki, analizy. Part II. Wydawnictwo
Politechniki Œl¹skiej, Gliwice 2006, p. 496.
5.4.3. Innovations in warehousing technologies
The dynamic development of the economy has enforced urgent upgrading
of the logistic processes of enterprises and, in particular, the storage of goods
concept. The warehouse has been often perceived as a place for storing products,
however activities related to storage play a very important role in logistic
systems. A well functioning warehouse is able to ensure a continuous stream of
flows of goods responding to the needs of customers. Automatic information
about inventory or placement of materials in the warehouse is not only a great
improvement of operation, but increasingly often it becomes a necessary condition
of the enterprise’s competitiveness in the market. The systems automatically
take over many processes related to movement and storage of cargoes,
which allows the personnel costs to be reduced. The warehousing technologies
which are commonly used in the logistics industry include 43 :
– automated storage (AS) and retrieval (RS) systems;
– automatic sorting system;
– computer-aided picking system;
43 Chieh-Yu Lin, Factors affecting innovation…, op. cit.
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