Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.04
July 12, 2021
…days, or so it seems. Major supermarket chains including Kroger, Walmart, and H-E-B have started micro-fulfillment center projects, tapping automation companies that offer robotic, high-density storage and picking systems, which can be placed inside a store or a so-called “dark store” that fulfills online orders for a compact geographic area. But for all the attention on the micro-fulfillment center (MFC) trend to date, it’s mainly taking hold in grocery. It does, however, overlap with the concept of hyperlocal fulfillment, which almost every retailer or e-commerce brand is trying to achieve in some form. The “hyper-local” concept overlaps with other fulfillment…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.80
June 11, 2021
…chains and service offerings. Last month, Drone Express and Kroger announced a pilot as part of the grocery retailer's continuing efforts to transform e-commerce. The first stores in Ohio and California are expected to offer the drone delivery service in early summer. FarEye offers route optimization Last month, FarEye raised $100 million in Series E funding, which is said it plans to use to develop its platform, hire staffers, and expand in Europe and North America. Drone Express claimed that its drone experience and FarEye's orchestration software will optimize routes and provide retailers with end-to-end visibility, enhancing customer experiences. They…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 37.33
May 03, 2021
The Kroger Co. and Drone Express today said they are collaborating on a pilot project to offer grocery delivery via autonomous drones in Centerville, Ohio. The partners plan to launch a second pilot at a Ralphs store in California this coming summer. “Kroger's new drone delivery pilot is part of the evolution of our rapidly growing and innovative e-commerce business – which includes pickup, delivery, and ship and reached more than $10 billion in sales in 2020,” stated Jody Kalmbach, group vice president of product experience at Kroger. “The pilot reinforces the importance of flexibility and immediacy to customers, powered…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 38.47
April 19, 2021
The Kroger Co. last week said it is launching its Customer Fulfillment Center in Monroe, Ohio, the first of its kind in the U.S. to combine “vertical integration, machine learning, and robotics with affordable, friendly, and fast delivery service for fresh food.” The company will be using technology from Ocado Group PLC under a partnership that began in 2018. Cincinnati-based Kroger was founded in 1883 and has close to 500,000 associates serving 60 million households annually. Hatflield, U.K.-based Ocado has been developing robots, artificial intelligence, and automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) for online grocers such as Ocado Retail Ltd.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.54
February 19, 2021
…to implement this approach. Some retailers like Walmart and Kroger use defined pickup windows to manage staffing and navigate peak hours, whereas Target fulfills an order within four hours and gives the customer up to 48 hours to pick it up. In either case, the goals are to limit capacity at busy times, incentivize off-peak traffic and promote load-balancing. Store managers can also change capacity limits in response to daily operational constraints, observed customer demands, or both. Buy Online, Ship from the Store Buy online, ship from the store (BOSS) involves a higher overall level of commitment and expenditure from…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.72
February 04, 2020
…is surely a powerful story. Investment firm Jeffries downgraded Kroger stock last fall because it had opted for centralized DCs not micro-fulfillment. Jeffries cited higher delivery costs due to greater distances from consumers and more up-front investment than micro-fulfillment requires. The primary focus today is grocery. However, Jeff Hedges, president of OPEX Warehouse Automation, says general retail offers huge opportunity, too. “The small footprint of these microcenters is well suited to the low availability and high cost of real estate in metropolitan areas closest to customers. Furthermore, they can be used for returns as well as order fulfillment,” adds Hedges.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.19
December 02, 2019
…from Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund and has partnered with Kroger to deliver the groceries and with Domino’s to deliver the pizzas. KiwiBot is providing similar services for the university campus. The University of California at Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles were two of the earliest colleges to welcome the food delivery robots, KiwiBot. Drones as enablers for the future of logistics Companies such as DHL and Amazon are testing drones for last mile delivery. DHL has already tested Parcelcopter, a Microdrones md4-1000 UAV to deliver a package. Boeing has come up with unmanned electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing cargo air…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.34
September 07, 2018
…drones being used to take inventory in the warehouse. Kroger, Walmart, Macy’s, Target and Coca-Cola are just a few leading companies that are testing and investing in the next generation of advanced warehouse automation. Their use is the next logical step to leverage efficiencies in supply chains that are already under severe pressure to speed up order fulfillment and reduce costs. While investing in advanced automation might seem to be the best way to manage fulfillment, the analysis to determine the best fit and return on investment is often insufficient or influenced by the automation and robotics manufacturer or reseller.…
