Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.04
July 23, 2020
…fulfillment and distribution facilities. And while some of these operations still run on manual processes, it’s clear that automation is breaking through the barriers as more organizations invest in new technology for their facilities. Modern Material Handling’s “2020 Automation Solutions Study” supports this assumption, proving just how important automation’s role is in the modern warehouse or DC. For this year’s Peerless Research Group (PRG) survey of Modern subscribers, respondents shared their views of important automation solution features, the extent to which they have implemented automation in their warehouses, and of course, how Covid-19 will impact their future plans. Of the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.86
July 22, 2020
…with most providers of third-party services, UPS’s e-commerce fulfillment operations are balancing growth and transformation to adapt to a rapidly changing market. And while it’s simple to attribute the changes to the pandemic, many of the trends impacting e-commerce fulfillment were already in motion before COVID-19. “When it comes to e-commerce, we expect to see a strong shift from our B2B business to more B2C business,” says Philippe Gilbert, who took the reins as president of the SCS organization in 2019. “We have been pushed for more flexibility and agility than ever before.” To keep up with that growth, UPS…
Found in Robotics Companies & Businesses, with a score of 52.70
July 16, 2020
Founded in 2014, Kindred Powered by Ocado Group is a robotics and artificial intelligence company contributing to the workforce of the future through human-robot collaboration. The company said its cutting-edge CORE/AutoGrasp reinforcement learning platform is the foundation of its proprietary technologies, including AI-enabled SORT and INDUCT robots. Kindred added that its robots continuously improve, becoming faster and more accurate over time so clients can automate e-commerce fulfillment and supply chain operations while increasing throughput. The company is co-located in San Francisco and Toronto and is part of U.K.-based Ocado Group PLC.
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 27.51
June 24, 2020
…benefit. Michael Fleming, AMR product manager, MHS: “With mobile robots increasingly prevalent in distribution and fulfillment, parcel and other environments, the challenge is properly integrating them with complex automated systems. Our deep experience with these systems and emerging technologies uniquely positions us to bring the theoretical benefit of mobile robots to the daily reality of our customers.” MHS provides access to a full lineup of automated mobile transportation systems, including modifications for target applications like detachable carts, robotic arms, forklifts and conveyor supplements. Sourcing best-of-breed technologies means customers are not limited to the in-house offering of a single vendor but…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.23
April 24, 2020
…UPS said this week its UPS Supply Chain Solutions group has rolled out a new Warehouse Execution System (WES) offering, entitled Smart Warehouse Technology, with a focus on augmenting distribution center efficiency. Company officials said that this new WES, which was developed by UPS and Softeon, a provider of supply chain technology services, is geared towards enabling faster intake and fulfillment for customers, notably those with fluctuating order patterns, are able to get products on time. And they added that this new WES enables UPS to define specific customer requirements so that the highest priority orders are worked first and…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 24.57
April 17, 2020
Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), a global market leader for collaborative, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), announced the signing of five certified system integrators (CSI) in both North and South America. US-based JMP Solutions, Iris Custom Solutions, Flex-Line Automation, Advanced Handling Systems, as well as Nordika Brazil in Sao Paulo, Brazil, all have specific MiR robot, software and application expertise to support end users with large and complex implementations. “In today’s uncertain business environment, companies – whether deemed essential or not – need to improve efficiencies and get their products to customers as quickly as possible,” said Ed Mullen, VP of sales,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.52
April 07, 2020
…systems and processes before rushing into technologies like mobile robots, drones or artificial intelligence (AI) applications. “The future is bright, with the availability of some great technologies for organizations, but the application must fit the particular needs, budget and operational readiness of a business for investments to be successful,” says Saenz. Peerless Research Group’s (PRG) annual survey was conducted in January and early February of 2020, before the supply chain concerns from coronavirus. Among the key spending findings was a drop in those saying they were “holding off” on investing given the state of the economy. This year, only 8%…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.21
April 02, 2020
…but there are four action modes to choose from. Group function powered disruption: the company uses its Adhoc project team and other relevant in-house skills to tackle a major disruption. The project team is created to carry out this task and they use all the resources within their reach in the organization to solve the problem at hand. This mode of action is forceful for the management and they have to start considering and assessing the strategic issues with the whole company while ensuring that they have control of the solution, so they can overturn the situation to give them…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.07
March 16, 2020
…logistics services provider and subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL Group, recently announced it has expanded its partnership with Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses. The key component of this expanded partnership, according to DHL, is ten new, nationwide deployments of the Locus AMR solution, through and Expanded Multi-Site Services Agreement. Today, DHL Supply Chain has roughly 100 bots deployed in two locations, according to Jim Gehr, President, Retail, at DHL Supply Chain North America. Gehr added that with this announcement, DHL is targeting that number to be roughly 1,000 by the end of 2020.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 18.00
March 12, 2020
…something truly new in the post-Kiva era: Autonomous mobile robots in a production setting at a Quiet Logistics e-fulfillment distribution center. Locus Robotics, the startup company founded by Bruce Welty and Mike Johnson, was still more concept than commercial product, but even then, Welty envisioned a multi-billion-dollar business for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in the warehouse. A little over a year later, I had the opportunity to watch another first: a mobile piece-picking robot from IAM Robotics at work at Rochester Drug’s distribution center in New York. While the two robots were filling orders in very different ways, what they…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.62
March 03, 2020
…on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT). But when will these “emerging” technologies form practical applications that solve logistics pain points? To find out how these emerging technologies are evolving into logistics relevance, we talked to top consultants and analysts. We found that AI is already being applied to processes such as transportation routing decisions and freight matching, sometimes within supply chain control towers. At the same time, IoT is being used for reasons such as predictive maintenance over vehicle assets and in conjunction with AI to better pinpoint…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 19.90
March 03, 2020
ABB, a world-leading supplier of industrial robots, and Silicon Valley AI start-up, Covariant, today announced a partnership to bring AI-enabled robotics solutions to market, starting with a fully autonomous warehouse order fulfillment solution. The partnership brings together the two companies with a shared vision for robotics enabled by AI, where intelligent robots work alongside humans in dynamic environments, collectively learning and improving with every task completed. Given the accelerated global growth experienced in the e-commerce sector, ABB identified a significant opportunity for AI-enabled robotics solutions across a broad range of applications including logistics, warehousing, and parcels and mail sorting. Global…
