Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.76
November 03, 2022
GreyOrange Inc. has continued its expansion in Latin America, offering robots for fulfillment and inventory optimization software. The Roswell, Ga.-based company today announced an agreement with Dafiti, a leading fashion e-commerce platform in the region, to enhance warehouse productivity for Dafiti’s operations in Chile with its GreyMatter software. “We chose GreyOrange to support our fulfillment operations because we want to provide our customers with the best possible shopping experience with reliable, fast delivery times and complete visibility,” said Jose Miguel Cortés, chief operating officer for Spanish-speaking countries at Dafiti Group. “As we plan for future growth, we knew that within…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.39
November 02, 2022
Warehouses and distribution centers will soon be in the rush of the holiday season, working long hours to fulfill orders. While e-commerce sales aren’t at the all-time highs they were at last year and throughout 2020, the market still demands strong, flexible, and resilient operations to meet peak demand. Robots can help answer the call in response to labor shortages and as the underlying technologies powering these autonomous systems continue to improve. Last month, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reported that more than half a million robots were sold globally last year. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are being used…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.59
November 01, 2022
In April, MHS Global, a materials handling automation provider and systems integrator, and Fortna Inc., a warehouse distribution software provider, announced their intention to merge. The combined entity today said it will be known henceforth as FORTNA. The former MHS and Fortna said they combine decades of experience in the design, development, and delivery of omnichannel and parcel distribution solutions. The Atlanta-based company claimed that it gives customers “a uniquely versatile end-to-end path forward to optimize operations in the face of continual upheaval.” FORTNA said it has the scale and capabilities to help customers and partners meet increasing consumer demands…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.43
November 01, 2022
OSARO today has launched a partner program that aims to streamline the deployment of robotic solutions for e-commerce and logistics businesses. The OSARO Partners Alliance program provides a range of collaboration and co-marketing opportunities for vendors, integrators, distributors, resellers, third-party logistics companies (3PLs), and consultants, to deliver unified solutions, according to the San Francisco-based company. The program is designed to optimize every stage of a customer’s purchasing and deployment process whether it be with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), or other solution technologies, it added. OSARO makes robotic piece-picking systems for e-commerce markets. It said…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.16
October 31, 2022
In late August, Gap Inc. opened its newest Customer Experience Center in Longview, Texas. The 850,000-sq.-ft. distribution center is dedicated to e-fulfillment for Old Navy in the Southwest and is part of Gap’s continued focus on enhancing the quality of its customer service. Earlier this summer, the San Francisco-based retailer expanded operations at its facility in Fishkill, N.Y. It added automated receiving, multi-level pick modules, enhanced returns-processing capabilities, and more. The Texas facility brings the number of U.S. e-commerce fulfillment centers to seven, plus an additional distribution center in Canada. They include facilities in Fresno, Calif.; Columbus, Ohio; and two…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.70
October 29, 2022
In the early 2000s, e-commerce continued to grow into just about every type of vertical and market, shining a light on the value of speed, accuracy, and order customization. Excelling at those factors drives success. In the past decade, order fulfillment lead times have become increasingly aggressive, with suppliers promising as quick as one-hour delivery or in-store pickup of goods. As customers load their virtual shopping carts with an array of items, optimizing the order-fulfillment process is a priority for many organizations looking to be one step (or click) ahead of their competitors. To meet the need for shorter times…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 19.09
October 27, 2022
…workforce recruitment, retraining, and retention. The 'great resignation' and micro-fulfillment Not only is there a shortage of drivers in the trucking industry, but there's also a shortage of logistics workers. Again, automation can perform certain tasks to augment existing staffs, noted Nada Sanders, a distinguished professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University. In a Northeastern news article, she cited three examples. Micro-fulfillment centers, a step toward fully automated “dark stores,” can provide orders for nearby customers. Amazon Go stores use cameras and intelligent software to track purchases and charge customers as they leave the premises, replacing cashier kiosks. Boston…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.90
October 22, 2022
The next packaging solution that comes into your DC may look less like a traditional automated pack out line and more like a robotic work cell in manufacturing. Not that packaging with robots is an entirely new frontier—they are often used to package goods coming off manufacturing lines. The difference today is that robots are edging further into e-commerce pack-out, where rather than dealing with one SKU, the robot needs the intelligence to handle thousands of SKUs that may come its way. What’s more, the leveraging of intelligent robotics for e-commerce packaging isn’t futuristic, it’s actually being done. Companies like…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.28
October 21, 2022
OSARO will team up with automation integrator Elm Electrical to demonstrate how cobots can piece-pick close at hand to humans during PACK EXPO International Oct. 23-26 in Chicago. The CRX-10iA/L FANUC cobot will be handing out mints and business cards to visitors in a bin-picking exercise as part of the demo at the trade show hosted by the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI). Cobots, or collaborative robots, are typically smaller than industrial robots and can operate alongside humans without safety fencing, which keeps installation costs down and reduces their footprint on the factory or warehouse floor. Typically, they perform simple…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 12.17
October 20, 2022
At ROSCon 2022, NVIDIA announced the newest Isaac ROS software release, Developer Preview (DP) 2. This release includes new cloud– and edge-to-robot task management and monitoring software for autonomous mobile robot (AMR) fleets as well as additional features for ROS 2 developers. NVIDIA Isaac ROS consists of individual packages (GEMs) and complete pipelines (NITROS) for hardware-accelerated performance. In addition to performance improvements, the new release adds the following functionality: Mission Dispatch and Client: An open-source CPU package to assign and monitor tasks from a fleet management system to the robot. Mission Dispatch is a cloud-native microservice that can be integrated…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.74
October 19, 2022
Picking robots are keeping pace with growing supply chain demand. Plus One Robotics Inc. yesterday announced that its robotic parcel-handling platform has performed more than 1 million picks per day in production and reached over half a billion parcel picks globally. “Our north star will always be to increase our customers’ total picks per day,” stated Erik Nieves, founder and CEO of Plus One Robotics. “To everyone at Plus One, 500 million represents more than just parcels picked; it’s a milestone demonstrating that our clients have come to rely on our tech every day. That’s a half-billion parcels that were…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.22
October 19, 2022
The market for autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, and automatic guided vehicles, or AGVs, is expected to reach $13.2 billion by 2026, according to Research and Markets. Fulfillment operations are adding more elevated work platforms and mezzanines to increase capacity. When AGVs and AMRs are to be used on upper levels, the right flooring is critical to ensure they function as intended. Scott McGill, director of sales at Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products (resindek.com), shared several key considerations when specifying automated flooring: Q: How can a floor impact a robot’s operation? McGill: To maximize efficiency, AMRs and AGVs must move quickly…
