Industry
An automated site is a different operating model, not a faster version of a manual one. Shuttles, AutoStore grids, conveyors and sorters only earn back their investment when one system decides what moves, in what order, and what happens the moment a tote does not arrive. BizBloqs sits above the hardware as the decision layer, and keeps the people who handle the exceptions productive. MHE and automation integration is a paid add-on module on SME+ and Enterprise — it is never bundled silently into the base licence.
An automated warehouse uses mechanised storage and transport — shuttles, carousels, conveyors, autostores or AGVs — instead of operators walking to stock. The warehouse management system remains the decision layer: it decides what to store where and what to pick next, and hands the physical instruction to the automation to execute.
An automated site is a different operating model, not a faster version of a manual one. Shuttles, AutoStore grids, conveyors and sorters only earn back their investment when one system decides what moves, in what order, and what happens the moment a tote does not arrive. BizBloqs sits above the hardware as the decision layer, and keeps the people who handle the exceptions productive. MHE and automation integration is a paid add-on module on SME+ and Enterprise — it is never bundled silently into the base licence.
A shuttle system, an AutoStore grid or a sorter is an execution device. It moves what it is told to move, in the order it is told to move it. The return on the investment is decided long before the first tote travels — by whatever system decides which order is released, which station it is fed to, and what happens when a location cannot be served.
BizBloqs holds that decision layer. Stock truth for the automated zone and the manual zone sits in one place, so the site never runs two versions of the same inventory: one in the vendor's controller, one in the ERP, neither of them trusted.
Machine control stays where it belongs. The WCS drives the hardware; BizBloqs drives the work. The interface between them is a documented message set rather than a bespoke integration that only one consultant understands.
Automated sites do not fail gradually. They run at rate until a tote is missing, a pick fails or a lane jams, and then the question is whether the order still ships today. Most implementations have no answer to that beyond a supervisor walking the floor.
BizBloqs treats the exception as a first-class task. A failed automated pick is re-routed to a manual zone with a directed instruction, the incident is logged against the order, and the customer promise is either kept or flagged early enough to act on.
Because throughput, dwell time, station utilisation and exception rate are measured by the platform rather than by the machine supplier, the business case behind the automation stays measurable for its whole lifetime. MHE and automation integration is a paid add-on module on SME+ and Enterprise — priced openly, never bundled silently into the base licence.
The automation vendor's software decides stock truth, the ERP disagrees
BizBloqs holds the master stock position for both automated and manual zones — the WCS executes moves, it does not own the numbers
Every piece of MHE speaks its own protocol — each new machine is a new project
Shuttles, AS/RS cranes, AutoStore, conveyors, sorters and AGVs connected through one standard message set — adding a machine is configuration, not a rebuild
Goods-to-person stations idle while orders queue in the wrong sequence
Order release driven by cut-off, carrier and station capacity — the grid is fed in the sequence that keeps every station working
One jam or missing tote stops the line and nobody knows what to do next
Failed picks, jams and unavailable totes are re-routed to a manual zone with a directed task — the order ships, the incident is logged
Throughput is measured by the machine supplier, not by the business
Lines per hour per station, grid utilisation, dwell time and exception rate in one dashboard — the business case is measured, not assumed
These are the capabilities an automated site needs on top of a standard WMS. They are configuration and licensed modules, not custom development.
One stock position across automated and manual zones — the WCS executes, BizBloqs owns the numbers
Shuttles, AS/RS, AutoStore, conveyors, sorters and AGVs on one documented message set
Release driven by cut-off, carrier and station capacity so no station stands idle
Failed picks and jams re-routed to a manual zone with a directed task, logged against the order
Lines per hour per station, grid utilisation, dwell time and exception rate on one dashboard
Decide by velocity and cube what belongs in the grid and what stays on conventional racking
Operations like yours already run on BizBloqs
Work out what your current process costs and how much of it you could save, on your own figures. No email wall — the result appears as you type.
Narrow it down
The operating model above is the same for everyone in automated warehouses. What changes is what you sell and what regulates it. Pick your vertical to see the compliance and commercial detail on top.
Choose your solution
BizBloqs is a warehouse platform, delivered in three solutions. Start where your operation is today, extend when you are ready. Each solution includes WMS at its core, with Order Management and Integrations layered in at the depth that fits your business.
Small and medium businesses running one warehouse, a growing order volume and a team that is doing too much by hand.
Scaling mid-market businesses selling across several channels, holding stock in more than one place, and outgrowing a single-warehouse setup.
Larger and multi-entity organisations with complex handling requirements, established ERP landscapes and formal governance obligations.
Why take our word for it? We let our customers convince you instead. BizBloqs customers are happy with their solutions and don’t hesitate to share their positive experiences. Our ability to turn any challenge into an efficient solution never fails to impress!
BizBloqs was one of the first to provide a WMS with scanning capabilities and we started a journey together. Our operations have gotten a lot more complex, advanced and especially bigger over the past 5 years and we have simply grown together.
Nick Bisselink, Financial/Operational Director
When we had extensive logistic requirements beyond the capabilities of our financial solution, BizBloqs shared its expertise to transform Lantaarn’s entire warehouse experience together
Lantaarn Publishers
We needed a better, more transparent and practical system for our incoming and outgoing product flow. A direct overview in our stock and all our logistics movements was really a must. BizBloqs helped us from the start!
Rik Klein - Sales manager
In addition to a scan procedure with EDI integration, BizBloqs has set up an entire production system for us. Production planning can provide direct instructions and as soon as they are ready, it all arrives in the OMS. This gives us a larger production capacity and a drastic reduction of the picking mistakes in dispatching.
Reinier Schot, Head of Production
A working paper on what automation really costs, why standard components almost always win, and the three places that is wrong.
Your warehouse is not specialBook a demo and we will walk your warehouse and order flow end to end — inbound, storage, picking, shipping, returns — and tell you honestly what BizBloqs would change.
How many of your articles sit in a pick location they empty less than once a month?
Part one: Laying out a warehouse does not start with the racking
After your last integration, how many systems hold a stock quantity for the same item? Name them.