How much can automation help e-commerce fulfillment operations? inVia Robotics Inc. last week announced that it has received this year's Top Supply Chain Projects Award from Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
“It’s an honor to receive this recognition and award as we continue to work with warehouses of all sizes to improve their daily throughput,” stated Lior Elazary, co-founder and CEO of inVia.
“As we work with leading 3PLs [third-party logistics providers] in the industry, we recognize that digitizing and automating their warehouses with minimal disruption to existing operations is key,” he added. “We’re proud to be able to help our customers keep pace with e-commerce demand, and in turn, be recognized by the industry.”
inVia Robotics said its award-winning system uses autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and artificial intelligence-driven warehouse orchestration software to help e-commerce businesses and 3PLs automate and optimize material flow.
The Westlake Village, Calif.-based company said its systems are built to be quickly deployed without disrupting existing fulfillment center operations. It claimed that it can quadruple or quintuple productivity and increase accuracy rates to 99%—at a fraction of the cost of traditional automation.
inVia provides Logic, Picker for productivity
The Top Supply Chain Projects Awards, formerly known as SDCE 100, are intended to spotlight successful and innovative projects that deliver bottom-line value to small, midsize, and large enterprises across a range of supply chain functions.
inVia’s true robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model was recognized for transforming the distribution center of an entertainment merchandise 3PL. By implementing inVia’s Logic warehouse execution system (WES) and inVia Picker AMRs, the logistics provider was able to increase productivity rates by 1,000%, boosting pick rates from 30 units per hour (UPH) to 334 UPH.
According to inVia, its integrated software and hardware were key differentiators in earning it the award. It said that its comprehensive offering does the following:
- Intelligently optimizes inventory placement through inVia Logic, enabling random access to a wide variety of SKUs being delivered directly to consumers
- Manages orders to leverage batching and pick-path efficiency to speed the retrieval of goods by inVia Picker robots
- Dynamically allocates labor resources based on productivity data to maximize throughput and minimize idle time
In addition, workers used inVia PickMate productivity tools on existing handheld devices to receive intuitive, step-by-step instructions to complete fulfillment tasks. Eliminating the need for additional training time, PickMate boosted both efficiency and accuracy rates immediately, the company claimed.
Coupled with automating goods retrieval and replenishment, this led to a 60% reduction in labor needs, said inVia.
Providers partner with supply chain customers
“The past 18 months have been a tumultuous time for U.S. supply chains,” said Marina Mayer, editor-in-chief of Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics. “But the core reason today's supply chains haven't completely fallen apart is because solutions providers have been working diligently to partner with customers and clients to streamline processes, implement emerging technology, and deliver results that improve bottom lines and the environment.”
“For many of these collaborations, it's about achieving full visibility, complete forecasting, end-to-end leverage and the ultimate in sustainability,” she said.
Supply & Demand Chain Executive said it covers the entire global supply chain, focusing on trucking, warehousing, packaging, procurement, risk management, professional development, and more. A full list of this year's Top Supply Chain Project winners is available online.
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