Zebra Archives

WITRON’s Software Interface Offensive

Posted on 26 July, 202429 July, 2025 by David Priestman

A new generation of software interfaces is moving into logistics centres. A few months ago, WITRON launched its interface offensive – architecturally, in the UX process, and in visualization.

WITRON designs, implements, and operates highly dynamic distribution centres for retailers in Europe, North America, and Australia. Although the cost-efficiency and output of an overall system are, of course, always of primary importance, software Events interfaces are often the ‘moment of truth’ in a customer relationship for Dr. Stefan Bauer. For several years, he has been responsible for the software interface change project at the internationally successful family enterprise from Parkstein in Bavaria, Germany.

“With the interfaces, the customer experiences how user-friendly the software finally is”, explains Bauer who has taken WITRON’s interfaces to a new level together with his team. The task for him and his team was to establish browser-based applications in the WITRON system world. A big step for the intralogistics specialist. “We were increasingly faced with customer requests to address this topic. Software is changing. The demands from the consumer world are high. Customer requirements are also changing in terms of interfaces. Office products are no longer the benchmark. Mobile applications and web technologies are the standard.

“We can scale the interfaces dynamically and also offer the corresponding modern hosting options from On-Premise, Data-Center to Hyperscaler. And today in particular, this is an expectation that is very important, even for warehouse software”, explains Bauer. “Because state-of-the-art user software is defined by a wide range of criteria: a high level of functionality, stability, clarity, simplicity, performance, customized for the respective user in their specific work area.”

Pilot project: Browser-based WMS for customers from the healthcare sector

The Upper Palatinate-based company started from theory into practice with a North American customer from the healthcare sector. “We migrated a complete WMS to a browser-based application, which is being launched at more than 40 sites. Browser-based interfaces support different protocols on all end devices”, says Stefan Bauer. The transition to browser-based interfaces was complex and required close cooperation with technology partners such as Microsoft and Oracle. “We have not only adapted and enhanced our own framework such as MIS, but also re-designed the workstation dialogs”, emphasized Stefan Bauer.

New developer generation

The team implemented new tools based on a JavaScript program library to allow the development of flexible and scalable interfaces. The application is intuitive and always allows quick adjustments. WITRON uses this technology also for workstation dialogs. The application, a modern IT environment, is designed to make workplaces more attractive – for WITRON’s and the customers’ employees. A decisive differentiating criterion in today’s work environment. “In this project, we involve young developers, experienced web developers, and senior developers who have internalized the business processes. The result speaks for itself, a completely new dialog world that customers are familiar with from their daily business.” Bauer’s goal: An individualized customer interface without having to upgrade the hardware behind it.

Roadmap as the basis for further development

However, the change process for WITRON does not end with the completion and acceptance of the new software. “Another important step is software maintenance and permanent enhancement in close cooperation with the customer”, says Bauer. “The software maintenance process is defined on the basis of a service contract and implemented with the customer using a roadmap.”

While Bauer and his colleagues are responsible for the architecture, Dominik Simbeck makes the interfaces ‘pretty’. Simbeck grimaces. He doesn’t want to leave it at that. “User experience and usability is more than just applying corporate CI colors to the HMI. It’s not about making it look pretty, it’s more about efficiency and avoiding complexity”, he emphasizes. In recent months, he and his team have established a UX process in the company. The process is based on a classic design thinking approach. The goal is to identify user needs at an early stage and optimize processes accordingly. This begins with the theoretical design of the processes, followed by the creation of wireframes and iterative tests with end users. The process leads to the development of a UI prototype, which is then transmitted to the software developers. This approach allows to continuously improve the user interfaces and adapt them to the users’ needs. The migration to browser-based interfaces also required organizational adjustments at WITRON. A specialized UX team was formed to focus exclusively on optimizing the user experience. A consistent design system was introduced to ensure the quality and consistency of the interfaces. These measures do not only facilitate the development of new applications, but also improve the maintainability and enhancement of existing systems – both technologically and functionally

“Requirements change, there are new innovations from WITRON, and also the customer business changes. So, we have to keep pace with that. That’s why the UX topic is now also part of the production development process and a key driver behind the UI development. UX and user interface design in the industry sector is different to the consumer market”, emphasizes the specialist. One of the major challenges is adapting UX strategies to the specific requirements of industrial environments. For example, touch panels used in the frozen food environment at minus 26 degrees Celsius must also be operable with gloves and therefore require a different design than typical consumer tablets. The colour schemes and contrasts must also be adapted to the lighting conditions in warehouses.

Process stability and costs

The most important project for Dominik Simbeck’s team in recent months was the migration of the WITRON Warehouse Management System to a browser-based application as part of a project for a North American food retailer. This migration was not only driven by technology, but also offered the opportunity to fundamentally revise and optimize the user interfaces. “We were able to integrate user feedback directly into the optimization process. This approach enables us to identify specific potential for improvement, particularly in the area of data maintenance and master data registration.” Close cooperation with customers is an essential part of the UX process at WITRON. Dominik Simbeck’s team sent UX experts to customers to monitor and analyze current workflows and user interactions. “Specific pain points are identified through interviews and direct monitoring. This information flows into the optimization of the user interfaces to ensure intuitive and efficient use”, explains Dominik Simbeck. The customer was delighted. “Our team received a thank you letter from the employees, which doesn’t happen very often in the UX sector.”

And how does he measure the success of a good UX? “At WITRON, the success of the user interfaces is evaluated both through subjective user feedback and objective measurements. This involves observing how quickly and effectively the new interfaces are adapted and whether they lead to a reduction in operating errors and support requests.” Dominik Simbeck emphasizes that a good UX process has numerous advantages – for the customer and for WITRON. “The higher process stability in the system results in better availability, more efficiency, and higher output. The result is a reduction in hardware costs, a lower need for service staff, and considerable time savings – and last but not least – it creates attractive jobs for logistics employees.”

User Experience Vital in 2020 Fulfilment, Says WMS Specialist

For a Warm Valentine’s Day, Pursue a Cold Supply Chain

Posted on 6 February, 20247 August, 2025 by David Priestman

Imagine going to a shop and it has run out of roses, chocolates, or luxury dine for two meals – it might mean a romantic plan is spoiled and reverting to a less-than-ideal back-up option. In a few weeks’ time, Valentine’s Day will be upon us again. For retailers, it’s a peak time for gift buying—roses, chocolates, luxury items, and special offers. Total spending in 2023 was expected to reach $25.9 billion, according to NRF data, while in the UK that figure stood at £2.2 billion.

And like previous years, things can go wrong. One risk is around wasted inventory — flowers, cosmetics, food — because these are sensitive to humidity and temperature. For example, the rose supply chain is global with countries like Ecuador, Colombia, Kenya, and the Netherlands growing, harvesting and shipping roses across the world. Timing and temperature are everything – they need to be picked and processed at the right time and transported thousands of miles at the right temperature and environment so they’re fresh, crisp and colorful for shoppers.

Cooling via vacuum and forced air methods, removing infected flowers and avoiding botrytis blight and damage from frost while in storage and transit are some of the concerns that harvesters and logistics managers have to think about when it comes to the cold chain. Exposure to the wrong environment could cause wasted inventory, lost revenue and negative consumer experiences. But how can suppliers, logistics, and warehousing companies make sure their cold chain is the best it can be?

Cold Chain and Environmental Data Visibility

Supply chain managers need accurate, timely, high-level views of their inventory and supply chain with ‘air traffic control’ platforms that connect, analyse and leverage data across the chain. These platforms provide predictive insights and analytics for road, sea, air, rail and last-mile routing and allow transport and logistics teams to build custom solutions with APIs and leverage AI assistants for problem identification and solving. For example, if a delayed arrival of an empty truck is reported, a loading dock manager can turn to their workforce management solution to reallocate labour. They may have four workers they can send to help load or unload another temperature-sensitive shipment to minimize exposure to warmer (or colder) temperatures. In another scenario, the platform may be able to reconcile weather reports with anticipated transit routes to recommend a delayed departure. The shipment may be late, but it’s better to be late than throw away pallets of roses on arrival because they were temperature compromised.

At an operational level, environmental monitoring systems can use sensors in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and other systems to track that air, humidity, light and other conditions in cold storage. They monitor conditions across a space, giving managers visibility into what is happening. Meanwhile, environmental sensing systems monitor temperature, humidity, light and other conditions down to the item level and even after an item has left cold storage. This means sensing systems can travel with inventory like roses, monitoring conditions, location and time as they move and share that information during transit and upon arrival.

Sensors can range from simple chemical-based sensors to passive USB monitoring devices to more advanced Bluetooth-enabled ones. For example, the data captured via temperature sensors, location beacons and radio frequency identification (RFID) at the time the roses were unloaded from a trailer, put in inbound staging, released from staging and taken to cold storage can be aggregated and compared using prescriptive analytics. Should the temperature rise or drop at any point in time, managers can identify the trouble area and time frame to rectify the root issue and prevent a reoccurrence. They can also use the data to determine the potential impact of the temperature change on product quality. Recent advancements in data logger technologies leverage Bluetooth® and near field communication (NFC) connectivity. Cold chain managers can now see what’s happening inside a box or crate without needing to open it, making it convenient to track temperature variations in near-real time.

Data from these wireless-enabled data loggers are typically sent to the cloud. The inventory or quality control manager can then sign into their private portal to view the data for an entire shipment. Modern data loggers come with a security layer that provides secure connections to block unauthorized access, prevent data manipulation and provide encrypted data transmissions to help defend against security breaches.

Conclusion

Every rose has its thorn and right now, costs and delays continue to mount in the Panama Canal, and conflict in the Red Sea shows no sight of ceasing, as far as sea freight is concerned. While the wider industry faces labour challenges and a decline in air freight demand, transport and logistics companies and the retailers they serve are feeling yet more pressures. But recent data suggests warehousing and logistics leaders are heading in the right direction to make their operations a lot more visible, resilient, and secure.

Sixty-seven percent of decision-makers plan to implement temperature monitoring sensors and smart labels, while 91% want to move to cloud-based systems for improved supply chain visibility. Whether an online order or in-store browsing, it’s a disappointment when things aren’t available, especially for special occasions like Valentine’s Day. Sensors and cloud platforms are helping make that a thing of the past.

By Andre Luecht, Global Strategy Lead for Transportation, Logistics and Warehouse, Zebra Technologies.

Körber Achieves Zebra Technologies Validation

Posted on 14 July, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Körber has announced it has successfully completed Zebra Technologies’ Solution Validation Program for its Körber One Voice platform, which orchestrates voice-directed workflows for all warehouse operations using Zebra’s Android devices to improve productivity. This designation indicates to customers and partners that Körber’s voice solution meets Zebra’s high standards for
performance and functionality with the company’s mobile computers.

Zebra is a leading digital solution provider enabling businesses to intelligently connect data, assets, and people. Körber is part of the award-winning Zebra® PartnerConnect program.

Hiring and retaining labour is one of the biggest challenges for supply chain operations today. Billions are lost annually to disengaged people in manual warehouse areas. These dynamics require a constant evaluation of workflows and warehouse technology.

“Working closely with Zebra engineering teams, we have tested the interoperability of Körber’s voice solution with select products, including Zebra’s TC52AX and TC57 mobile computers,” said Dan LeBlanc, Director Product Partnerships at Körber Business Area Supply Chain. “This ensures customers that our application meets their needs and reduces both the risk and the deployment time for them.”

Technologies such as voice play a key role by not only making many warehouse tasks safer, but by also making operations significantly more productive. Körber’s voice technology is intuitive by nature, can adapt to unique user language inflections and has achieved productivity gains of up to 35%, accuracy improvements up to 85%, and training time reductions up to 50%.

“Körber has been a global voice leader for many years, delivering market-leading voice and warehouse management system solutions,” said Daniel Dombach, Industry Solutions Director EMEA, Zebra Technologies. “Our Android-based voice-enabled mobile devices empower Körber to continue its voice market leadership, delivering cost effective solutions for customers.”

Zebra’s Enterprise Testing Program enables eligible channel partners to test the interoperability of their software and hardware solutions with select Zebra mobile computers, scanners, printers, radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions and software products, to meet user application-specific needs.

Supply chains are growing more complex by the day. Körber uniquely provides a broad range of proven end-to-end solutions tailored to help manage the supply chain as a competitive advantage. Fitting any business size, strategy or industry, our customers conquer the complexity of the supply chain thanks to our portfolio of software, voice, and robotics solutions – plus the expertise to tie it all together.

RFID Streamlines Store Inventory Management

Posted on 19 January, 20231 August, 2025 by David Priestman

Manhattan Associates has unveiled its vision for an RFID-powered store. Manhattan Active® Omni suite has expanded its support of RFID tags for automating and streamlining the inventory counting, receiving, picking, checkout, return and exchange processes. With this new solution, retailers can make more accurate promises, increase conversion rates and maximise inventory exposure for selling.

Retailers are increasingly depending on their stores to fulfil both in-store and online orders. However, their ability to do so is often hindered by poor store inventory accuracy, which often falls below 70%. In fact, a recent Manhattan survey found that only 2% of UK retailers believed they had an accurate view of inventory in stores and across their distribution network.

Manhattan has solved this challenge by enabling its point-of-sale and store fulfilment solutions with handheld RFID support for all inventory management and order fulfilment activities. By combining RFID technology with Manhattan Active Omni, retailers can increase store inventory accuracy from 70% to nearly 100%. Manhattan’s solution also reduces inventory-related labour hours, helps associates quickly locate merchandise and expedites transactions at the point of sale.

Manhattan Active Omni’s RFID capabilities streamline and automate inventory counting and receiving processes. Store-wide inventory counts can be performed quickly and accurately by store associates armed with the latest handheld devices, such as Zebra’s RFD series. Associates can also use the mobile RFID scanners to greatly reduce the time required to perform unit level receiving of new inventory items.

In active store environments, it is common for merchandise to be moved by customers or even misplaced by store staff. Manhattan’s new ‘find’ mode works just like a metal detector, using handheld RFID devices to direct store associates to the precise location of tagged items, reducing inventory shortages and time spent hunting for missing items.

Manhattan’s new RFID capabilities can also be used to speed up sales transactions and returns. Readers placed at the point-of-sale capture tag information as soon as merchandise is placed on the counter, immediately populating the customer’s shopping cart.

“Manhattan Active Omni delivers a unified approach to selling, engaging and fulfilling in a single store application. By integrating RFID into its store solutions, Manhattan is able to reduce the time and effort required to implement RFID, while ensuring store associates can continue to leverage the most advanced store solution in the market,” said Amy Tennent, senior director of Product Management for Manhattan.

“Agile omnichannel inventory management and fulfilment is critical to modern store operation,” said Bill Toney, vice president Global RFID Market Development at Avery Dennison. “We believe the combination of Manhattan’s store solutions and Avery Dennison’s innovative RFID and digital identification solutions will enable retailers to transform inventory management and streamline store operations while delivering a first-class consumer experience.”

About Manhattan Associates

Manhattan Associates is a technology leader in supply chain and omnichannel commerce. We unite information across the enterprise, converging front-end sales with back-end supply chain execution. Our software, platform technology and unmatched experience help drive both top-line growth and bottom-line profitability for our customers.

Manhattan Associates designs, builds and delivers leading edge cloud and on-premises solutions so that across the store, through your network or from your fulfilment centre, you are ready to reap the rewards of the omnichannel marketplace.