Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.78
“There’s something happening here, What it is ain’t exactly clear”….Stephen Stills A few weeks ago I published Robotics at a tipping point. The piece focused on how 3PLs like DHL, GEODIS and Quiet Logistics are deploying mobile collaborative robots in their e-commerce fulfillment operations. One of the things that struck me is that while the implementations we’re seeing are small, it feels as if the market for mobile collaborative robotics is at a tipping point in materials handling, and it feels as if the adoption rate, poised to become in the next three to five years just another tool in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.77
It’s November, which means the holiday season is right around the corner. For most retailers, gearing up for peak is a matter of getting the right inventory in the right locations and hiring enough people to get the projected orders out the door. Those tasks are daunting enough. But, how do you recover when a facility you were counting on for the upcoming season catches fire roughly nine weeks before the first of November? Shawn Curran (left) is executive vice president of Global Supply Chain and Product Operations for Gap Inc. and Kevin Kuntz (right) is senior vice president of…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.75
Dexterous manipulation has been particularly challenging for robotics developers and suppliers. Advances in machine vision, machine learning, motion control, and end-of-arm tooling are allowing robots to more accurately pick mixed items in varied orientations. This has implications for e-commerce order fulfillment, parts inspection, recycling, and other supply chain and manufacturing applications. In this webcast, the expert panelists will discuss how automated piece picking can now meet industry needs. Date: Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023 (Note new date!) Time: 2:00 p.m. EST From human guidance to AI and sensor fusion, this Robotics 24/7 Roundtable will look at the current state of the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.74
Yale Lift Truck Technologies announced the availability of its Reliant forklift operator assist offering on an additional 16 Yale models at MODEX 2024 in Atlanta. The new entrants to the Yale Reliant lineup are predominantly warehouse lift trucks. This expansion brings Reliant’s availability to 59 Yale models covering a wide range of applications, including those common in retail and e-commerce fulfillment, wholesale distribution and third-party logistics operations. Reliant expansion, ADS technology highlighted at MODEX The Reliant expansion includes several models that weren’t previously available for standard order with the technology, along with additional capacities or configurations of models for which…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.71
Late last month, CoEvolution announced that its CO-PICK smart warehouse system delivered substantial increases in warehouse efficiency for Lotte Group, a South Korean Fortune 500 retailer. The company said it raised throughput at Lotte's facility by 30% more SKUs per day. Lotte Group is a leading retailer in South Korea, with a significant presence in retail, food, electronics, and confectionery. Having considered and researched multiple options, it selected CoEvolution to work on a project to automate its entire warehouse transferring operations using a multi-vendor robot fleet. CoEvolution said the CO-PICK system uses orchestration software to deliver highly efficient picking, order…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.71
An ongoing question among supply chain stakeholders, when it comes to global e-commerce bellwether Amazon, continues to be just how far it will spread its wings in terms of expanding its logistics and supply chain operations and processes. Regardless of what people say or think, there are very real signs that Amazon is not going to sit on the sidelines and let logistics come to them, as, conversely, in many cases, it is really coming to logistics. Two quick examples of this include its 2012 $775 million acquisition of Kiva Systems, a developer of mobile-robotic solutions that automate e-Commerce order…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.70
Fetch Robotics Inc., which provides cloud-connected robots, today announced a new integrated case pick-to-pallet system with The Körber Group. The system dynamically integrates the movement of Fetch's Freight500 and Freight1500 autonomous mobile robots with Körber's warehouse management systems. The partners said their combined offering can orchestrate warehouse associates and robots and optimize care-picking workflows. In the past year, growing e-commerce demand has put stress on distribution centers (DCs). In addition, longstanding shortages of skilled labor have made it difficult for companies to hire and retain staffers, accommodate seasonal fluctuations, and rely on temporary workers to operate forklifts, said San Jose,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.70
Berkshire Grey, a robotics and artificial intelligence company delivering retail, ecommerce, and logistics fulfillment automation technologies for global companies, today announced the Berkshire Grey Partner Alliance program to offer supply chain customers more options for advanced robotics solutions. The partner program allows customers to work with world-class solution providers, accelerate the benefits of AI-based robotics in their distribution centers, and flexibly scale their businesses when and where they need it most. “The need for advanced robotics has never been greater and the skills and technology required to implement intelligent robotic solutions are pronounced,” said Berkshire Grey CEO Tom Wagner. “The…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.69
Tompkins Solutions, a supply chain consulting and material handling integration firm, will begin offering products made by Loko AI, an artificial intelligence company that develops risk management services using computer vision and data. Tompkins Solutions is a subsidiary of Tompkins International. The Raleigh, N.C.-based company said it has been helping customers develop “unique supply chain consulting and material handling integration solutions” since 1975. Loko AI is based in Irvine, Calif., and said it provides “autonomous systems, computer vision, and synthetic data” to increase companies’ risk management capabilities. It was founded in 2017 in response to the Route 91 Festival Shooting…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.66
Vecna Robotics, a leader in autonomous material handling, recently separated from Vecna Technologies, creating distinct companies. As a standalone business, Vecna Robotics plans to play a major role in the coming transformation of industrial automation and robotics. Powering this transformation, Vecna Robotics finalized an investment led by Drive Capital this summer to chart a new direction that will maximize both robotics and human workflow in the industrial sector. The New Vecna Robotics The separation allows Vecna Robotics to focus on developing innovative, adaptive, future-proof hardware and software solutions in warehouse and industrial automation. Moving Vecna Robotics to a standalone business…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.66
GEODIS Indianapolis, Ind. Size: 250,000 square feet Products: Apparel and fashion Stock Keeping Units: 30,000 Throughput: 20,000 units per day Shifts: 1 shift per day/7 days a week Read more about the GEODIS e-fulfillment center in the feature article from February 2019 Modern Material Handling Magazine. GEODIS is one of a handful of third-party logistics (3PLs) providers that have embraced mobile collaborative robots to improve throughput and productivity and create a better working environment for their employees. Here’s how they’re deployed. At the present, GEODIS is using the cobots only in the picking process. Picking begins when a wave of…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.65
Warehouse execution system software (WES) grew out of the need for automated distribution centers to throttle the release of order fulfillment through automation in a way that met customer delivery windows while keeping utilization high and steady. The first WES suppliers got a foothold in Distribution Centers (DCs) that were installing high-end, fixed automation like sortation systems. These operations needed a nimbler way of releasing work to the floor versus the “waves” of work that most warehouse management system solutions of the time batched together for processing. Today, that core purpose for WES still remains, but the value proposition is…