Ecommerce technology has brought change in a lot of businesses. Even before the pandemic, online shopping was changing the way consumers were buying everything from household goods to apparel and accessories. With that, business models have changed over the last decade, and that is exactly what happened in the eyewear industry. The days of purchasing glasses or contacts from your local eyecare provider are fading.
Fast forward to today, multiple online eyewear retailers are staking claim to a $147 billion global market. Given the convenience of purchasing online, eyewear is now one of the fastest-growing fashion trends with roots in healthcare. The market is expected to grow too with an annual CAGR of 8.5% each year throughout 2028 according to Grand View Research. This is good news since colored contact lenses and spectacular frames will continue to reign as the latest looks in fashion accessories. However, with this new growth comes the inherent how to deal with storage and distribution for these catwalk looks.
E-commerce fulfillment is one of the biggest hurdles that growing businesses have. Once a business gets momentum, manual order picking can get quite tedious and even expensive. Not to mention that all those fashion frames need lenses too. How does one store, combine lenses and frames, finish manufacturing, and then ship out accurately? A well-calculated symphony of robotic manufacturing, automated storage, and e-commerce fulfillment. Of course, this is large-scale production and e-commerce fulfillment facility. For smaller to mid-size production facilities, manual processes may work to a point if the fulfillment process involves a warehouse management system (WMS). For larger manufacturers, at least some semi-automation for storage and fulfillment is needed. As online eyewear retailers gain momentum, the process needs to grow with it, which means fully automated storage and retrieval along with automated e-commerce fulfillment.
There are two ways eyewear manufacturers can benefit from automated storage. First, the storage of materials and raw goods. Depending on how much the process is pulling materials to cut, the process can benefit from automating the actual storage of acetate or plastics. Since the name of the fashion frame world is choice, there are a lot of options. So, it’s best to have these sheets stored automatically. Once the frames are cut, the product can be stored automatically as well—the same with the lenses. Once a pair is ordered, the exact frame and lens combination can be retrieved and combined automatically for assembly. It is the sheer volume of numerous combinations that make automated storage a benefit. A high-density storage capability along with speed can increase throughput. Then, the accuracy of automated picking utilizing a WMS basically eliminates errors. When the finished product is complete, fulfillment along with value-added marketing material can complete the order. Once the product is delivered to the customer, it’s easy to see that this trend is here to stay.
The team of automation experts at SSI SCHAEFER is ready to help. Call 704-944-4500 for immediate assistance or fill out our contact request form. A representative will reach out to you shortly. Thank you!
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