Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 26.79
March 29, 2021
Boston Dynamics today unveiled a new robot named Stretch, which it said is designed to meet the logistics industry's need for flexible automation. The Waltham, Mass.-based company said the prototype marks its official entrance into warehouse automation, a fast-growing market driven by accelerated demand in e-commerce. Stretch is Boston Dynamics’ first commercial robot specifically designed for warehouse facilities and distribution centers. There are more than 150,000 such facilities around the world, according to Interact Analysis. The mobile robot is designed to rapidly move boxes in a a number of tasks, starting with truck unloading and later expanding into order building.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 21.23
March 24, 2021
…resource from Peerless Media serving developers, systems integrators, and operations managers across the robotics ecosystem. Its primary focus is on applications in the supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing sectors, with the goal of representing end users as much as technologists. “The more voices we have out there, the better,” said Aaron Prather, senior technical advisor and research and development evangelist at FedEx Express. Prather is a longtime proponent of practical automation, and he discussed the difference between provider expectations and industry needs. “There are a lot of sensational things out there, such as a shelf-climbing robot, which people have sent…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.15
February 24, 2021
…fully integrated, AI-based software and hardware to automate business operations in warehouses and logistics fulfillment centers. The company’s solutions help retailers and logistics companies meet the exponential growth of e-commerce and ever-increasing consumer demands. BG’s offerings bring together proprietary AI with differentiated hardware to create robotic picking systems and multiple types of robotic mobility systems, which are combined in an orchestrated fashion to drive operational efficiencies. Differentiated hardware includes full robots, sensing systems, gripping systems and machine vision systems. Operational efficiencies achieved by BG customers typically result in a return on their investment in as little as two to three…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 15.04
February 18, 2021
Locus Robotics, a leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses, this week announced $150 million in Series E funding, led by Tiger Global Management and BOND. The round builds on support from existing investors including Scale Venture Partners and Prologis Ventures, the venture capital arm of Prologis, a global leader in logistics real estate. “This new round of funding marks an important inflection point for Locus Robotics,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “Warehouses facing ongoing labor shortages and exploding volumes, are looking for flexible, intelligent automation to improve productivity and grow their operations. Locus is uniquely…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.16
January 26, 2021
…storage structure that’s modular and scalable, and uses “3D” robots internally to store and retrieve items for box packers on the outside perimeter. FoodX Technologies, which has partnered with Carrefour Group and recently announced its entry into the U.S. market, provides a software solution that is said to improve online grocery margins, and increases the productivity of retailers’ e-commerce operations. The software based eGMS platform can be scaled to work for any size retailer and can deploy in the back of a store, within a dark-store and now in a micro-fulfillment center with Attabotics. The joint Attabotics and FoodX offering…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.97
December 28, 2020
…involved, like knowing how to phase them into an operation and identifying automated or semi-automated applications that make the most sense. The other reality is that automated lift trucks are still a drop in the bucket in terms of total lift truck sales. User companies will have to figure out how to justify them and think through how the technology is not just another type of lift truck, but a tool in their automation strategy. Approximately 5,000 automated lift trucks were shipped in 2019, according to Ash Sharma, managing director with analyst firm Interact Analysis. That may sound like quite…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 15.02
December 14, 2020
Los Angeles-based Port Logistics Group (PLG), an omnichannel logistics services provider, recently announced it has teamed up with Wilmington, Mass.-based Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses for a major initiative at PLG’s facility in Chino, Calif., in which PLG will deploy more than 150 autonomous mobile robots, or LocusBots, for its fulfillment processes. The companies said that this collaboration will augment warehouse productivity, order pick accuracy, and workplace ergonomics and safety. And they added that PLG and Whiplash, PLG’s end-to-end e-commerce platform are well-positioned to meet the ongoing surge in e-commerce demand, which has been a…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 31.98
December 11, 2020
Hyundai Motor Group and SoftBank Group today agreed on the main terms of a transaction pursuant to which Hyundai Motor Group will acquire a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics in a deal that values the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion. The deal came as Hyundai Motor Group envisions the transformation of human life by combining world-leading robotics technologies with its mobility expertise. Financial terms were not disclosed. Under the agreement, Hyundai Motor Group will hold an approximately 80% stake in Boston Dynamics and SoftBank, through one of its affiliates, will retain an approximately 20% stake in Boston Dynamics after…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 13.13
November 23, 2020
Locus Robotics, a leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses, today announced that it has passed the quarter-billion (250,000,000) units picked volume level heading into the 2020 holiday peak season. Locus robots now pick more than ten-thousand units every 15 minutes, a 263% increase in units picked vs. the same period last year. Locus’s 250 million pick milestone reflects the rapidly growing volumes at customer sites throughout this pandemic-impacted year, with some customers’ daily orders often reaching Black Friday levels. Across the installed base, Locus is now regularly exceeding volume levels of 1 million picks per day. “Our…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 16.72
October 06, 2020
…in more critical cases, due to infection. By having robots find and move specific products in a goods-to-person model, it’s no longer necessary to have individuals walking up and down aisles all day pulling orders. This not only makes better use of human resources; it results in dramatically reduced pick times. Our CarryPick solution delivers flexible and modular order-picking processes that reduces travel paths and the picking error rate. 2. MULTI-SHIFTS OPERATIONS High reductions in personnel conflicted with rising demand and the necessity to fill for multi-shifts’ operations. A modular, robotic goods-to-person picking solution not only increases the productivity of…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 15.94
September 29, 2020
…logistics and forecasts they will produce up to 4,000 robots per year by 2021. Exotec’s Skypod 3D warehouse robots allow retailers and e-merchants to quadruple their warehouse productivity and increase up to five times their storage capacity, according to Exotec. Their autonomous robots can move in a unique three-dimensional pattern at a speed of 13 feet per second, creating a faster and more efficient picking and preparation process. Warehouse robotics have a 45% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) while the global automation market’s CAGR is also constantly growing by 10 to 15%, according to Exotec. “There is a global need…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.68
August 27, 2020
…to rebound and possibly spend more to automate their operations. This optimistic outlook depends on the health of companies emerging from the pandemic and the amount of capital spend available for projects.” Top 10 System Suppliers Daifuku is still No. 1 on the list, reporting more than $4 billion in revenues for 2019. Although the figure is slightly less than the previous year, it follows double-digit gains contributing to three-year growth of 37%. Stuart Oliphant from Daifuku’s corporate communications department: “While Daifuku is experiencing an increase in projects from the e-commerce sector and an increase in sales in line with…
