Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.16
March 22, 2021
…doesn’t need expensive programming. The ideal is like an Amazon warehouse—software is making all the decisions, but humans are working side by side with robots and autonomous systems. The mix of manual and automated labor will change and develop over the years as solutions change and develop. The future depends on the first stage, the current stage, working well. Ingredient technologies enabling autonomy Artificial intelligence is one of the key enabling ingredient technologies, but it is not the only one. In the past few years, machine learning, computer vision, and deep learning have enabled some amazing capabilities and tasks. However,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.88
March 11, 2021
…Not only are companies with DC operations feeling the “Amazon effect” of filling orders faster and cheaper, but a growing importance has been placed on warehouse fulfillment among C-level leaders as a competitive lever, says John Sidell, CEO and principal with consulting firm New Course. “Chief supply chain officer is now a title in many large organizations,” says Sidell. “There is broad realization of just how important supply chain fulfillment is, because in many ways it’s the most crucial touchpoint with the customer.” The money has been pouring into DC-focused robotics and AI startups in recent years, with funding coming…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.37
February 22, 2021
…leveraging this tacit information for improved route planning. The Amazon Last Mile Routing Research Challenge encourages participants to develop innovative approaches leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, and other non-conventional methods to produce solutions to the route sequencing problem which outperform traditional, optimization-driven operations research methods in terms of solution quality and computational cost. The challenge site is live and registration opens on 22 February. Visit routingchallenge.mit.edu Amazon is providing the training data for the models and will be evaluating submissions, with technical support from MIT CTL scientists. MIT CTL will publish and promote technical papers about…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 1.69
February 19, 2021
…and cost. In the realm of ecommerce, pioneers like Amazon relentlessly favored speed. That worked fine for brick-and-mortar retailers when their ecommerce volumes were in the single digits as a percentage of sales. However, given that today’s order volumes are likely here to stay, profitability is a mandatory consideration from here on out. Last-Mile Delivery A simple, back of the envelope SWOT analysis will tell you that retailers with brick-and-mortar stores have an obvious advantage over their direct-to-consumer (D2C) counterparts: their physical store footprint. Several last-mile delivery innovations have spawned from this advantage, including buy online, pick-up in-store and buy…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.24
February 08, 2021
…suffered hard under the crisis, leading online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba were able to expand their market shares during the lockdown and increase online sales during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other e-commerce peak seasons around the globe. China’s online giant, the Alibaba Group, generated a growth merchandise volume (GMV) of $74.1 billion during the 11-day “Global Shopping Festival” campaign in November, an increase of 26% compared to the same timeframe in 2019. In the meantime, Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, processed more than 2.32 billion delivery orders during the same period. Alibaba’s revenue for the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.05
February 05, 2021
…The team was one of 10 finalists in the Amazon Alexa Prize 2019-2020 for their efforts to build dialog systems that conduct engaging conversations with users. “We believe this approach can be particularly impactful in a variety of user-facing applications, such as recommendation engines in product marketplaces, ad-targeting systems and customer support,” says McAuley. “For these applications, we must provide explanations that are interpretable by laypeople, and those explanations should be personalized to each individual user. Conversational frameworks increase accessibility, facilitate new forms of interaction and make recommender systems more empathetic.” Team: Minghua Liu (Ph.D 2024) and Xiaoshuai Zhang (Ph.D.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.92
January 29, 2021
…e-commerce and logistics providers, including UPS, FedEx Ground and Amazon. “We are thrilled to have Material Handling Systems join us in South Central Kentucky. Their operations will bring diversity to our manufacturing sector as a leading provider of material handling systems that support a portion of the world’s e-commerce infrastructure,” said Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Ron Bunch. “We look forward to working with them for years to come.” This week’s announcement comes just two weeks after MHS announced plans earlier this month to acquire Michigan-based TGW U.S. Conveyors, formerly Ermanco, Inc., a division of TGW…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.09
January 07, 2021
…leaders that are setting the pace, like Walmart and Amazon. They are setting the bar on service when they do things like moving from two-day to one-day shipping or Walmart doing same day delivery for groceries, he notes. “As a result, new last-mile fulfillment models are taking shape, such as ship from store and drone delivery.” Pointing out that the future of delivery revenue goes beyond just shipping and delivery cost, Amling says smart companies are “playing offense,” versus attempting to defend their territory. “This is the era of organizational velocity,” he adds, “which is the ability to observe, accept…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.39
January 06, 2021
…mind, especially as cases spread in high-profile operations like Amazon. However, the impact of the pandemic has also prompted renewed assessments of DC operations on everything from the degree of automation and advanced software necessary in a warehouse today to the importance of building size, work area design and location. The pandemic underscored the growing prevalence of e-commerce fulfillment and the increasing need to mitigate labor and productivity risks through providing a safer, less congested work environment largely enabled through increased automation. It’s important to keep in mind that systems and automation capabilities were developing rapidly before the pandemic. However,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.08
December 28, 2020
…labor rates as part of what some call the Amazon effect, that makes the return on investment timeframe shorter for robotic lift trucks, down to two years or less for multi-shift operations,” says Paramore. “As a result of all these trends, we expect to see sales of robotic lift trucks increase going forward into the remainder of the year and into 2021 and beyond.” Companies considering robotic trucks do face a much higher price tag for a robotic unit versus a conventional equivalent, but in effect, it’s unrealistic to compare unit costs, explains Paramore, since robotic units are a system…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.56
November 23, 2020
…one of the official channel partners, which include 3D Printlife, IT-Works 3D, Makerwiz, Midwest Technology, Printed Solid, Mouser and Amazon. SynDaver’s synthetic humans, animal models and task trainers simulate the anatomy of live patients in detail, including individual muscles, tendons, veins, arteries, nerves and organ systems. The company’s synthetic tissues are made of water, fibers and salts, and each has been validated against the relevant living tissue for mechanical and physical properties.
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.14
November 16, 2020
…with FedEx to develop services that could compete with Amazon. A first step was putting in place processes so orders could be picked and shipped the same day they were ordered; that was followed by weekend pickups and then seven-day-a-week deliveries. Instead of positioning inventory in multiple facilities around the country, “one central U.S. distribution center is viable for us.” The subscription model creates more predictable demand and reduces the number of rush orders. Over time, the company outgrew four facilities before the new DC went live in March 2020. The immediate predecessor was an 86,000-square-foot facility located about 10…
