How DIDO will revolutionise warehouse design and efficiency

AI is revolutionising warehouse design

The warehouse that operates with 100% efficiency has suddenly become much more achievable. Using artificial intelligence (AI) it’s now much easier to design warehouse layouts and processes that are a perfect fit for your business. We do this with DIDO, using the latest technologies harnessed to our years of design and operations experience in the logistics sector. It’s completely transformed our approach to designing warehouses tailored to the unique needs of our clients.

AI is revolutionising building and process design across many industries. DIDO is our solution for implementing AI technology in the world of commercial logistics and storage.

It’s not just us who recognise the potential of our solution. We’ve won a number of awards for our approach to and implementation of the latest technology. This includes the prestigious Lloyd’s Bank National Business Award for Data Excellence in 2020 – given for the most innovative use of data within any sector of the UK economy.

What is DIDO?

DIDO stands for Data In, Design Out, using machine learning to interpret strategic and operational data. It does the same task as human warehouse designers, only much faster and without any of the bias or preferences that humans bring to their work.

The system sits at the heart of our warehouse design process. It’s part of a computing platform integrated with three other systems, all of which play a vital part in achieving the optimal design.

These are:

• ELSA – machine learning and simulation classification platform.
• CLARA – ultra-quick, artificially intelligent design bot.
• ELISA – simulation and comparison tool.

Between them, these systems take in data, analyse it, create designs and then assess them. The process repeats until the optimised designs are achieved.

There’s then a process of visualising the top designs, for further review.

DIDO allows us to create warehouse designs that work better today and have future-proofing built in. Using DIDO allows us to design faster, take many more variables into account and have more options to consider.

It’s no understatement to say that it’s revolutionising warehouse design.

How DIDO is different from traditional warehouse design

Until recently, warehouse layouts and processes have been designed by people. The designers had varying degrees of skill and experience. None had comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the warehouse operation, because it’s not humanly possible to hold all that information and process it logically.

Traditional warehouse design is a time-consuming process. It involves:

• Defining the purpose of the warehouse
• Creating a plan for the warehouse space
• Assessing the storage needs required
• Identifying resources needed for material handling
• Drafting a design that optimises space
• Testing the process flows in that design
• Implementing an optimised layout

There are plenty of digital tools that can help speed up this design process. However, the design is always going to be constrained by human knowledge, logic and insight.

The DIDO approach to warehouse design

DIDO is different because it uses artificial intelligence. Like a human designer, it has the capacity to take in data, observe patterns and trends, and make decisions based on that information. Because it’s a digital system, it’s capable of processing at a much higher rate than humans.

In the time that a human designer puts together half a dozen potential warehouse layouts, DIDO has created and analysed thousands.

DIDO’s design process is broken down into three phases:

• Data capture
• Conceptual design
• Visualisation and engineering

One benefit of using DIDO for warehouse design is that it takes the repetitive, manual work out of creating a potential warehouse layout. It gives our team more freedom to focus on higher-value activities in the design process.

How DIDO works

DIDO involves a mix of technologies to achieve its results. These include machine learning, virtual twinning and extended reality. Here’s a guide to the stages in the process.

Data gathering

Data is the raw material fed into DIDO. Much of this data is operational, covering all the SKUs and their movements in and out of the warehouse. Everything from physical size, transaction volumes and frequency of movement is taken into consideration. It’s a large data set that allows DIDO to understand what’s going on, in detail.

Strategic information is also input to DIDO, alongside the operational data. This information informs DIDO about the objectives, preferences and constraints of the organisation. It’s delivered as an answer to strategic questions, which are converted into a numerical system. This helps DIDO to prioritise the strategic objectives.

ABC analysis

Having gathered the data, DIDO then works with its associated systems to create a design. It begins by using ELSA, the machine learning and simulation classification platform.

ELSA (Everything Lives Somewhere Appropriate) analyses all the SKU data and puts inventory items into one of six bands. These relate to the size of the item and its speed of movement. This ensures inventory is grouped into products with similar picking requirements.

It’s a highly sophisticated form of ABC analysis. With this information, DIDO now has a map of inventory based on its need for space and the picking process.

Layout design

DIDO now turns to CLARA, the ultra-quick, artificially intelligent design bot.

CLARA (Creates Layouts Algorithmically And Rearrangees Accordingly) creates warehouse designs, based on the analysis performed by ELSA. It uses the same logic and follows the same methods as human designers, only it goes much faster.

Unlike a human designer, CLARA retains a consistently logical approach, ensuring a high degree of accuracy.

Checking the designs

To manually check the thousands of designs produced by CLARA, would be impossible. That’s why DIDO calls on ELISA (Ensures Layout Is Strategically Aligned), the simulation and comparison tool.

ELISA creates a simulation of each layout made by CLARA. This simulation is measured against the strategic data input into DIDO and scored based on performance.

The results are passed to DIDO, which in turn gives information to ELSA, the data analysis tool. ELSA makes adjustments based on the feedback, and this is in turn fed to CLARA, which creates a new design. Once again, it’s simulated and scored by ELISA.

Using the machine learning capabilities of these tools allows designs to be built, simulated and scored incredibly fast. The outcome is designs that have been rigorously assessed.

Visualisation and engineering

Having created an optimised warehouse design, DIDO passes this to be virtually engineered. Using a mix of virtual, augmented or rendered reality tools, we create a digital version of the design in 3D. This is a precise virtual twin of the output from DIDO.

The twinning allows the design to be inspected and further tested in a virtual environment. It’s now possible for our client to see what their warehouse will look like before it’s constructed. They can even walk around inside.

DIDO is a true revolution in warehouse design

AI is shaking up the world of design. Optimised designs for complex systems of all kinds, from buildings to business processes, can now be created much faster and more efficiently than ever before.

DIDO is our AI solution for businesses looking to significantly boost productivity in their warehouse operations.

We have decades of experience in developing warehouse solutions across a huge range of industries. That experience is paired with a commitment to, and investment in, the latest technologies – in order to help our clients.

To find out how we can help your organisation design the optimised warehouse, get in touch with us today.