Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.36
January 01, 2022
The term “material handling” refers to the controlling, moving, and protecting of products and materials from production to distribution. In some cases, in-between processes such as transportation and storage are included as well. Material handling equipment includes a wide range of automation technologies, with conveyor systems and mobile robots being some of the most common ones. As materials handling involves packaging, storage, shipping, and delivery, it is closely tied to the manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, retail, and disposal industries. To be more precise, Meili Robots has identified four stages of material handling processes in the supply chain: Manufacturing: First, inbound shipments…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.85
December 31, 2021
From path planning to object recognition, artificial intelligence is essential to improving robotic piece picking, particularly in manufacturing and e-commerce. “The number of AI applications and providers using AI in robotic picking solutions continues to increase,” said Thomas Evans, chief technology officer at Honeywell Robotics. “In the past year, we’ve seen an increase in the demand for automation, particularly around robots that use machine learning [ML] and artificial intelligence.” “Quantifying the impact and improvements can most easily be estimated by the efficiencies and increased scope of robotics in autonomous pick-and-place tasks,” he added. “The improvements most readily tied to increasing…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.33
December 30, 2021
Although the past year was full of challenges for businesses of all kinds, it provided opportunities for robotics users and providers. Plus One Robotics Inc. has not only weathered COVID-19 disruptions; it has also responded to fast-growing demand for smart automation. “The first half of 2021 was full of continued uncertainty on a global scale,” wrote Erik Nieves, co-founder and CEO of Plus One, in a blog post. “We had great people on board, the right technologies in development, and clients who were excited about what we were doing. But things were moving slowly in the face of this 'new…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.47
December 28, 2021
HAI Robotics yesterday said it is celebrating its fifth anniversary at its new headquarters in Shenzhen, China, as the Hurun Research Institute ranked the company in this year's global unicorn ranking list. HAI Robotics makes autonomous case-handling robots, or ACRs, for warehouse order fulfillment. “It’s an extraordinary journey for us to grow from the cradle of a small workshop into a company of more than 1,200 employees with five branch offices across the globe today,” said Richie Chen, the company’s founder and CEO. “We’re celebrating our fifth anniversary with gratitude to our customers and investors for their trust and confidence…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.77
December 27, 2021
…need to specialize beyond traditional warehouses to adapt to micro-fulfillment centers that might be located in office buildings or back-of-store. That's the specialization piece. But I think the specialized applications will be combined in a general platform. So instead of having hundreds of companies that address each specialization, we'll have a few companies that combine specialized applications into a cohesive automation solution. Looking forward to in-person events What are you looking forward to most in 2022? Bieller: Definitely in-person events. The past two years have proven that the development and introduction of new products and technologies is maintained—if not improved—in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.73
December 22, 2021
The end of the year is the customary time to reflect on achievements and challenges, as well as to look ahead to goals for the year to come. After nearly two years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain snafus, and shifting demand, multiple industries are looking to robots and automation to improve efficiency and mitigate widespread labor shortages. Robotics 24/7 asked the following thought leaders among robotics associations, end users, and suppliers about their thoughts: Susanne Bieller, general secretary of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) Tom Ryden, executive director of MassRobotics Suzy Teele, vice president of strategic…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 21.75
December 20, 2021
…begins to scale deployments of its grocery automation and micro-fulfillment systems, Alert Innovation Inc. announced a transition in leadership roles. Founder John Lert will become executive chairman, handing the CEO reins to Fritz Morgan, who had been serving as chief operations officer. “I had this transition in mind when I asked Fritz to help me lead Alert,” said Lert. “I recognized during our very first meeting that he has the intellectual capacity, the leadership skills, experience in leading disruptive technology-product companies to scale, and most importantly the alignment with our core values to become my successor in leading the organization.”…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 16.07
December 18, 2021
Velodyne Lidar Inc. yesterday announced that ROBORACE has selected it as the official lidar sensor provider for next generation vehicles in the Season One championship series, which is set to begin in 2022. ROBORACE use Velodyne‘s Velarray H800 sensors in its electric-powered autonomous race cars. “At ROBORACE, we are always searching for the best technology to build into our race cars, and Velodyne has one of the best products available on the market,” stated Chip Pankow, chief championship officer at ROBORACE. “The Velarray will help our cars achieve safe navigation and collision avoidance in competitive autonomous racing.” ROBORACE said it…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 1.34
December 17, 2021
Small to midsize distributors have begun to adopt automation. For instance, we featured NorthShore Care Supply's use of autonomous mobile robots last year. Now, robotic palletizing has sped up receiving operations, taken labor out of the process, and created a safer work environment. In July of 2020, I toured NorthShore Care Supply's recently opened 173,000-square-foot distribution center (DC) north of Chicago. Adam Greenberg, a University of Chicago MBA grad, founded the company in 2002. He got the idea for incontinence supplies after some family members who were going through illnesses expressed their reluctance to purchase products like Depends at the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.71
December 17, 2021
The pandemic has changed how consumers shop and make purchases. In spring 2020, nearly 70% of shoppers were reliant on online shopping. The infographic below outlines the top consumer shopping trends after COVID-19: The “2021 State of the U.S. eCommerce Consumer Survey” captures insights on shopping habits. Click here for the full infographic. Source: CGS The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that holiday retail sales will increase between 8.5% and 10.5% this year. The NRF reports that online and non-store sales continue to experience significant gains, growing 11% to 15% in a market of about $218.3 billion to $226.2 billion.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 1.88
December 16, 2021
As with other industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated demand for automation in the restaurant industry. However, small and midsize businesses, or SMBs, have tight profit margins and are understandably reluctant to invest in new, complex technologies even as they struggle with turnover and labor shortages, according to Haitham Al-Beik, CEO of Wings. Littleton, Mass.-based Letsbutterfly Inc., which does business as Wings, is developing proprietary systems in its HiveRobotics Lab for “autonomous sustainable retail” (ASR). Al-Beik has spoken with several restaurant franchises about the challenges they face and what they want from robotics suppliers. He shared his findings with Robotics…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.82
December 15, 2021
HAI Robotics yesterday announced that more than 100 units of its HAIPORT-powered Workstation have been put into operation globally since it launched the product a year ago. The Shenzhen, China-based company said the system has significantly improved order-fulfillment efficiency for its customers, which have been under pressure to update their warehouses with higher throughput capacity. “HAIPORT-powered Workstation offers an innovative solution for warehousing automation and provides a new way of human-machine interaction,” said Jeff Zheng, research and development director at HAI Robotics. “It helps not only to increase operational efficiency, but also to reduce costs and deliver better ROI [return…
