Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.37
June 14, 2017
…and throughput they are after, especially when you have Amazon pushing the same-day delivery model, and everyone is chasing and trying to achieve that same panacea,” says Michael Howes, vice president of software and controls for Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions (WDS) Americas, which offers automated materials handling as well as software solutions. E-commerce means that DCs have a greater volume of small orders that make it more complex to orchestrate systems, not only within the four walls of the DC, but with order fulfillment and transportation management decisions. “Everyone is being pushed to ship smaller and faster,” says Joe…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.98
April 26, 2017
…said. “This isn’t going to be easy.” Related: Is Amazon Creating Self-Driving Cars for Delivery? Related White Papers The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be According to predictions made a few decades ago, current travel should involve self-driving automobiles, jetpacks and flying cars, with space transport a common occurrence. Download Now! Parcel Delivery: The Future of Last Mile Currently subject to significant disruption, last-mile delivery, especially of parcels, is getting a great deal of attention in the media and from investors, and rightfully so. Download Now! Drone Technology: Clarity from Above According PwC's study on the commercial applications of…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.98
April 25, 2017
…“Working in the Automation Age,” featuring speakers from A3, Amazon, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, RAMTEC Ohio, and FANUC. In conjunction, A3 released a white paper exploring how companies like General Motors and Amazon continue to grow their workforce even as they add automation technologies. Automate 2017 also garnered increased international participation. For the first time, 13 Chinese automation companies exhibited, reflecting China’s dramatic growth in robotics implementation and development. A first-ever joint US-China Robotics Forum brought together leaders from the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) and its counterpart, the China Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA). A3 also announced Apellix as…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 17.17
April 24, 2017
…are also doubling down on creating autonomous vehicles. Now Amazon could be eyeing driverless car technology as a way to get items to people's doors faster, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. “Amazon.com Inc. has created a team focused on driverless-vehicle technology to help navigate the retail giant’s role in the shake-up of transportation, according to people briefed on the matter.” The initiative, still in its early phases, could help the Seattle-based company overcome one of its biggest logistical complications and costs: delivering packages quickly. Amazon could use autonomous vehicles including trucks, forklifts and drones to…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 20.70
April 19, 2017
Amazon was awarded a patent yesterday for an on-demand manufacturing system designed to quickly produce clothing - and other products - only after a customer order is placed. The computerized system would include textile printers, cutters and an assembly line, as well as cameras designed to snap images of garments that would provide feedback on alterations needed in subsequent items. In order to increase efficiency, the goods would be manufactured in batches based on factors such as the customer shipping address, the patent says. Once various textile products are printed, cut and assembled according to the orders, they can be…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.38
April 13, 2017
…Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported that “Plug Power granted Amazon the right to buy up to 20 percent of its shares” based on meeting contract goals. While Kion, Intelligrated and Toyota are taking different approaches to the market, in conversations with their executives, they each predicted an increase in R&D spending that will benefit their individual companies but also the industry – and increase the clockspeed. New business models: The traditional industry business model is that a company builds a DC and then buys, installs, operates and maintains solutions provided by equipment, technology and software suppliers. These are still emerging,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.91
March 23, 2017
…and forecasting data, as well as overviews of some of the world’s leading e-commerce businesses, such as Alibaba and Amazon. Download Now! Precise Cross-Belt Sortation: Unlocking Efficient E-Commerce Distribution In the burgeoning e-commerce market, speedy delivery and diverse offerings are customer expectations, and the ability to deliver these via a seamless customer experience will increasingly separate leaders from laggards. Download Now! Five Ways to Optimize Your Distribution Center For E-Commerce Fulfillment Today’s challenge has now become how to manage fast-moving inventory with enough precision to meet the expectations for prompt shipment of multiple small orders. Download Now!
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.96
March 10, 2017
…swarm the U.S., regulators need convincing before they give Amazon, Google, and others permission for expanded use. Bloomberg Technology has a fascinating article titled “Crashing Drones Into Test Dummies for Safety” which clearly identifies how the small- and medium-sized drones flooding the U.S. market can seriously injure or even kill someone. Researchers at Virginia Tech - home to both a Federal Aviation Administration-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems and a world-renowned injury biomechanics group - are developing methods to evaluate the risk posed by small unmanned aircraft to anyone on the ground. This research is key to enabling flights…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.81
February 08, 2017
…the Americas for Intelligrated, Dematic and Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics) and has extensive experience in logistics software consulting and sales. He has developed innovative hardware and software systems, sold complex supply chain solutions, cultivated long-term client relationships and managed multi-national strategic sales teams. “This new position underscores our laser focus on rapidly growing our automated storage and retrieval system business,” said Brian Urban, SencopWhite CEO. I am confident Chis will leverage his experience in logistics software consulting and sales to drive exceptional growth for White Systems.” Initially, Lingamfelter will focus on growing White Systems’ industrial storage and retrieval hardware…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.92
February 06, 2017
…to initiate a FedEx shipment by talking to your Amazon Echo or Google Home virtual assistant device. “FedEx is considering vehicles that could drive around neighborhoods and make deliveries without human drivers”Rob Carter, FedEx’s chief information officer Carter says that FedEx has created an AI-enabled Alexa app that would eventually understand commands like “Alexa, prepare a shipment.” “You [will be able to] just talk your way through and [Alexa will] ask the right questions to make sure you’ve completed the work and then you can expect a truck to roll up to the front door of your office, pick up…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.25
January 17, 2017
…are benefiting the makers of driverless industrial vehicles. Already, Amazon is poised to become one of the biggest users—and suppliers—of automatic guided vehicles in the warehousing and distribution space. But AGVs aren’t just for those with big budgets and massive operations. In fact, AGVs aren’t even always AGVs. The “guided” part of that acronym, familiar from decades of autonomous vehicles designed to follow magnetic tapes, wires and other fixed paths, is now just one of a growing number of form factors. For the purposes of this story, AGV is an umbrella term including self-driving vehicles, autonomous mobile robots, vision-guided vehicles…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 25.91
December 29, 2016
Amazon has been working on getting a drone delivery program off the ground for a while now, but some new patents show the company isn't out of wild ideas. As TechCrunch reports, Zoe Leavitt, an analyst for CB Insights, has discovered a recent Amazon patent for an “airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery” - i.e., a giant flying drone mothership zeppelin warehouse. The patent envisions the airborne fulfillment center (AFC) in the form of a giant airship, that would fly at high altitudes of around 45,000 feet in the air, and would then deploy individual drones…
