Berkshire Grey, a robotics and AI company delivering retail, e-commerce, and logistics fulfillment automation to global companies, is
now offering Robots as a Service (RaaS) implementation options for its solutions. Many retailers are understandably freezing CapEx due to circumstances beyond their control, and RaaS implementation models allow them to continue to lean forward with innovative technology that will serve their customers and their businesses now and in the future.
Market trends, consumer behavior, and new competition have strained retail, e-commerce, grocery, convenience, and foodservice supply chains for several years. But, the impact of our current shared crisis on retail in general is unprecedented.
According to Statistica1, in the first half of March sales for grocery and food delivery are up more than 40%, Amazon is up more than 16%, grocers are up almost 12%, and general merchandisers are up about 8% while over that same period apparel and
department store sales are down over 10%.
Consumers have radically changed their buying patterns and the impacts are significant across the retail ecosystem. Some current trends are expected to reverse over time, but some, especially consumer appetite for e-commerce, will not. Regardless of which situation a retailer finds themselves in short term, up or down, robotic automation delivers the competitive advantage, enhanced asset utilization, and labor optimization needed to fortify winning supply chains. RaaS subscriptions make it easier for enterprises at any point on the spectrum to realize those benefits and thrive over the long term.
“Customers across the retail ecosystem are facing a range of challenges from demand that is double or triple normal peak volumes to significant short-term sales downturns,” said Peter Van Alstine, Senior Vice President & GM for Retail at Berkshire Grey. “In this extraordinary business climate, RaaS makes it possible to address labor availability challenges, avoid costly new warehouse buildouts, and secure the fiscal benefits of complete robotic automation solutions without the traditional capital requirements.”
Berkshire Grey’s robotic solutions have autonomously handled millions of items and containers in production facilities. They are now available via RaaS to solve challenges across critical supply chain operations:
• Robotic Store Replenishment solutions are currently picking millions of items round-the clock for major retailers to automate break pack order picking.
• Robotic Induct Stations are improving traditional sortation solution utilization and order throughput without increasing labor.
• Robotic Pick Cells can be interfaced with existing ASRS solutions to turn goods-to-person operations into goods-to-robot operations.
• Robotic Put Modules automate eCommerce fulfillment in distribution centers, micro-fulfillment centers, and back-of-store environments.
• Robotic Parcel Sortation systems enable logistics providers and retailers to sort and consolidate small parcels generated by ecommerce operations into bags and containers to enable efficient network handling and zone skipping.
“We speak with customers daily who are under stress in normal times due to demand uncertainty, labor availability, and competitive pressure,” said Steve Johnson, President & COO of Berkshire Grey. “Those customers need business partners who can help them alleviate that stress now more than ever. RaaS is one way to make positive impact through innovation accessible to more enterprises.”
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