CPU or Central Processing Unit is considered as the most vital component of any smart device. There was a time when CPUs were the most ubiquitous component of a computer system. Its presence was overwhelming and fatter the unit looked better and faster it was considered. CPU was the brain of the whole system, guzzling energy, crunching data and throwing results. Its shadow was large but knowledge on how and what it actually does to the data was low, only idea a user had was about input and output. He only had  idea about the output (what he sees on screen) and input(what he punches on keyboard). Till date the invention of smart devices having screen with touch capability have left the users clueless.

The visibility of this component called CPU is fading and yet is considered the most vital part. Similar changes are happening in WAREHOUSING.

There was a time when there was retail front of every product and consumers had to visit these outlets to buy the product. This had various challenges to the market development due to reluctant sellers who kept limited stocks. The amount of investment was low by the retailers leading to non-experimentation. Their basic idea was to follow a set pattern, maintain the basic inventory of fast moving items and living on in the same life every generation.

An established retailer has challenges to face, for standing in the high competition market. Foremost is the customer satisfaction. Then to consistently achieve growth.

Consumer had almost similar paradigm. A consumer appreciates change, he wants to experiment and to move on to the next level.

Warehousing occupies the central role in the chain from producer to consumer. This is the Central Processing Unit of this process. New technologies have made this important part  invisible to the society. Instead of visiting the reluctant retailers, consumer are getting a variety of  products directly  delivered to them from these warehouses to their home. As a warehouse does not have any challenge of storage, it can maintain a wide variety of SKUs for people to buy without having to visit the retailers having limited stock & variety. Also the  costs get dramatically low due to less handling, transportation and margin reduction as the goods are directly transferred from the warehouse.

Several e-commerce companies are creating huge technology enabled warehouses, where goods are stocked and once consumers makes a choice online they are shipped directly. As a result customer gets multiple option to choose from. Online retail giant, Amazon started using drones to transport goods and commodities directly from the warehouse to the consumer. The drones are programmed to take the goods directly to the house without the use of a pilot supporting the flight. This shows their ability to grow as they have competition started to build at par.

The transformation is happening slowly and gradually. The most invisible part of supply chain – a warehouse akin to a CPU sitting inside a smartphone are leading this revolution. Both of them make no noise and are invisible to their users. Even then the revolution in consumerism is led from front by the warehousing.