North American sales of machine vision components and systems increased 19% year over year to $709 million in the first quarter of 2018, setting a new all-time record for quarterly sales, according to new statistics issued by AIA, the industry’s trade group. Total machine vision sales includes sales of components and systems. The machine vision components category grew 28% to a new record high of $107 million during the first quarter. The growth in components was primarily driven by camera sales, which increased 44% to $65 million. Optics (16% to $12 million) and software (nine percent to $5 million) markets…
In a recent report, ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm, outlines how technologies fit together with each other in Smart Manufacturing. The report identifies eight transformative technologies: ● Additive manufacturing ● Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) ● Augmented reality (AR) ● Blockchain ● Digital twins ● Edge intelligence ● Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platforms ● Robotics According to ABI, The manufacturing sector has already seen increased adoption of IIoT platforms and edge intelligence. Over the next ten years, manufacturers will start to piece together the other new technologies that will eventually lead to more dynamic factories less…
XPO Logistics, a Greenwich, Conn.-based global provider of freight transportation and logistics services and global food and drink company Nestlé announced today they have partnered up to co-create a United Kingdom-based distribution center (DC), which is expected to be completed in 2020. The 638,000 square-foot DC, which XPO described as “a warehouse of the future,” is located at the new SEGRO East Midlands Gateway Logistics Park in Leicestershire and will mainly be occupied by Nestlé for its consumer packaged goods, such as Kit Kat, Maggi, and Nescafe. The DC will also be used as a testbed environment for XPO technology…
We all like to talk about the rapid rate of change. People said it 100 years ago, and we’re still at it, usually claiming that the current rate of change is unprecedented. Whether that’s true is not really the point anymore. Instead, change is now indisputably a constant state. And, we all better be coping with it. This month’s Big Picture offers five glimpses into what specifically is changing. The comments here range from new designs and operational modes for warehouses to a completely new supply chain model called the Physical Internet. Then, there’s mobility and wearables as well as…
The Robotic Industries Association (RIA) has announced Esben Østergaard as the recipient of the Engelberger Robotics Award. The Engelberger Awards Dinner and Ceremony will be held at 6:30pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, Germany as part of Automatica and the International Symposium on Robotics. President of RIA, Jeff Burnstein, calls the Universal Robots CTO a visionary in defining a new category of robotics. “His work in the field of collaborative robot applications has allowed robots to enter previously unthinkable sectors in just about every industry,” says Burnstein. “Esben Østergaard’s emphasis on robots that work side-by-side…
Plus One Robotics, Inc., a 3D vision and controls developer for robotic automation in the logistics and e-commerce markets, announced the commercial release of the PickOne Perception system, an integrated 3D vision solution for imaging parcels and generating robot pick points. Plus One Robotics has partnered with leaders in robot manufacturing, system integration, and e-commerce to develop this technology for the order fulfillment and parcel shipping markets. Rising consumer demand for shorter delivery times has increased the need for improved efficiency in sortation, induction, and singulation of the millions of packages which must be handled each day. The repetitive nature…
The changing state of logistics The logistics industry is in a rapid state of change and advancement, and its sophistication and development are a work in progress. It seems like every day and every week a new value proposition comes along that continues to shape the industry. This changing environment, particularly ongoing technology trends, brings up some fundamental questions worth pondering. Being somewhat philosophic, the answers will change as new innovations, ideas, processes, and technology make further inroads. Here are 5 big questions that are worth looking into. 1. Logistics technology startups seem to emerge daily, will these transportation disruptors…
John Hill knows a thing or two about technology innovation. In a career that spans 50 years, Hill was at the forefront of the development of industrial applications for bar code scanning and radio frequency identification and the first warehouse management software systems. There’s a reason he remembers that the first implementation of bar code scanning outside of point of sale in grocery and retail was in October 1971 at Buick’s Plant 10. “I carried the 50-pound scanner into Buick to give them the demonstration,” Hill recalls. Hill has not rested on his laurels. Still a director at St. Onge,…
I had a chance to talk with Tony Uphoff, Thomas’s president and CEO, at Monday’s reception in Nashville at ISM 2018. While we both work in supply chain management today, we share a long background in consumer magazine publishing in New York. We both were witness to the disruption caused by digitization on long-standing, and once successful, business models in that world. At the same time, Thomas has tried to get ahead of the curve by transitioning from a print-based company – what we all knew as Thomas Register – to a digital native organization. After, it occurred to me…
The Internet of Things The Internet of Things (IoT) is far from a new topic in the manufacturing, industrial and defense logistics sectors. Although the IoT is moving beyond a buzzword to real-world utilization, not all stakeholders fully understand this transformative technology. So exactly what is the Internet of Things and why should you care? Here’s what you need to know to successfully lay the foundation for the IoT and ensure long-term success. Making Sense of the Internet of Things Wikipedia describes the Internet of Things as a “network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with…
From demographic shifts and increasing urbanization to drones and 3D printing, social and technology changes are putting pressure on supply chain managers to move goods closer to consumers and develop warehouses with the flexibility and speed to support local, faster delivery through multiple channels. In this new white paper, you’ll learn: Trends that are putting pressure on the warehouse A vision for how emerging automation solutions will help you meet the demands of the future Abstract The pace of change has never been as fast as it is today, and those changes will ultimately influence the warehouse of the future.…
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been making inroads over the years in various sectors. But a joint report issued this week by global express and logistics services provider DHL and technology powerhouse IBM takes an in-depth look into the impact of AI within logistics. The report, entitled “Artificial Intelligence in Logistics: A collaborative report by DHL and IBM on implications and use cases for the logistics industry,” examines different ways in which AI can be used for augmenting logistics operations, especially now at a time when leveraging AI is more accessible and affordable than it has been…
