Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.61
October 29, 2023
…there are now systems to count and put away inventory as well as prepare items for shipment to retail locations. Robots are a positive development for retail careers While the shift to automation in the retail sector might seem alarming on the surface, the truth is that it's not all bad news for human workers. For several years, the McKinsey Global Institute has been conducting extensive research on automation. The institute discovered that about half of retail activities can be automated using current technology. However, only about 5% of all jobs can be fully automated. Even with those figures, retail…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.75
October 28, 2023
…than AGVs, which move along fixed routes. Delivery, hospitality, inventory, and self-driving forklifts are examples of self-navigating robots. Drones: Also known as uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), these robots use software-controlled flight plans that work with GPS. Drones are used in various fields like surveying, delivery services, and agriculture. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs): These robots function in underwater environments for applications like oceanography, oil and gas exploration, and archaeology. Prospective users should evaluate the mobile robots whose designs best address the demands of the task at hand. Mobile robots can provide multiple benefits AMRs and related systems can help businesses in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.48
October 25, 2023
…process of picking up and moving empty totes once inventory has been completely picked out of them. “Amazon is a company that is committed to making the work experience of their employees safer, easier, and less repetitive,” asserted Damion Shelton, co-founder and CEO of Agility Robotics. “When we announced our most recent version of Digit earlier this year, this is exactly the type of repetitive material handling deployment we had in mind—one that enables humans to be more human,” he said. Warehouse automation still faces skepticism. According to research from ProGlove, 45.6% of 1,000 warehouse and logistics professionals surveyed in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.53
October 24, 2023
…access to power outlets. Integration with software such as inventory or warehouse management systems (WMS) allows for efficient data exchange, real-time monitoring, and centralized control. Facilitating the flow of information can help with optimizing robots and entire warehouse operations. 6. Promote task customization and flexibility. Consider the ability of AMRs to adapt to different tasks and workflows within the facility. Evaluate whether the robots can be easily programmed, reconfigured, or equipped with additional tools or attachments for specific tasks. Flexibility in task customization enables AMRs to handle a wide range of logistics operations, such as materials handling, inventory management, or…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.95
October 24, 2023
…areas such as electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation/control, said Rockwell. Inventory+ service agreement: Minimize downtime risk with access to critical spare parts without the upfront cost of ownership. With its Inventory+ service agreement, Rockwell Automation owns and manages the spare parts inventory at the customer site, eliminating large capital investments while providing priority inventory replenishment. Repair+ service agreement: Rockwell said this can prolong the life of industrial automation and eliminate one-off repairs. This new agreement is designed to streamline the repair process for Allen‑Bradley products and other automation brands with one easy contract to help proactively plan and budget maintenance, repair,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.65
October 24, 2023
…It added that its customers can dispense drinks, manage inventory, and buy ingredients through its hardware, software, and marketplace ecosystem. Sidework ecosystem serves up custom drinks Sidework said its product ecosystem simultaneously answers questions such as “What’s the easiest way to make an iced cold brew with light almond milk, two pumps of salted caramel syrup, and one pump of sugar free vanilla?” and “Why can’t I get a simple flavored sparkling water or health-conscious soda options from my favorite restaurant?” The company asserted that its systems can dispense fresh ingredients; highly viscous ingredients; ingredients with particulates; and pulp, dairy,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.40
October 18, 2023
…efforts at Amazon, Sequoia integrates multiple robots to containerize inventory into totes. It combines mobile robots, gantry systems, robotic arms, and a new ergonomic employee workstation. “From our latest robotic arms like Sparrow and Cardinal, to our first autonomous mobile robot, Proteus, we’re excited to see the impact our technology is having in Amazon’s operations,” wrote Scott Dresser, vice president of Amazon Robotics, in a blog post. “By reimagining how we store and manage inventory at our sites, Sequoia will help us delight customers with greater speed and increased accuracy for delivery estimates, while also improving employee safety at our…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.52
October 13, 2023
…physical tasks such as mowing and knowledge work like inventory management, customer success, and marketing. The robots can explore, map, navigate, and manipulate the physical world around them, including homeowners associations (HOAs), parks, university campuses, and more, it said. “We started with large machines and then thought about scale for making them inherently safe,” he explained. “If the robot has to deliver ROI [return on investment], we just need a two or three DoF [degree-of-freedom] actuator product to be profitable.” Electric Sheep added that its robotic mowers don’t require an engineer on site – they can just be shipped to…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.43
October 12, 2023
…and replenishment during seasonal picks, as well as for inventory control on a daily basis. “With Scallog, our high-performance, multi-purpose Evreux site has an automation solution that fits in perfectly with our approach to customer and employee satisfaction, while meeting our commitments to agility, performance, and CSR [corporate social responsibility],” said Guillaume Frant, marketing director at Dispeo. Not only do Scallog's G2P systems enable Dispeo to meeet its CSR commitments by reducing worker fatigue and strain, but they also help prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and help employees with physical limitations or restricted mobility, said the partners. Evereux warehouse enhances performance…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.12
September 29, 2023
…fulfillment operations. This enables continuous improvements in areas like inventory management, workflow optimization, and predictive analytics. Locus turns this data into actionable intelligence, and we maintain a separate and actively monitored database for each customer. It is used to provide forward-looking business intelligence delivered in real time to allow up-to-the-minute insights into the operation. This information can be accessed from anywhere at any time via our secure management portal. Heffner: We or our customers can use MiR Insights to look at where robots are at any point in time. It measures productivity, missions run, the distance traveled. Users can access…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.63
September 29, 2023
…advantage of robotics? “One customer had $16.8 million in inventory in a queue for a quality-control check,” he said. “They handed it to us and said, ‘Do you have a way to get through this?’ We had to do a kaizen sort to reevaluate the whole process, but we ended up eliminating 95% of QC sort, freeing up 75,000 sq. ft. and reducing overhead so they could deploy employees elsewhere.” Wagner’s Oliaro cited an example of improving inventory accuracy with drones from partner Gather AI. “It would normally take a person in a reach truck or a scissor lift a…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.25
September 23, 2023
…the floor,'” he said. “It's also helping to optimize inventory, thinking about how to replenish product in pick modules.” “Some competitors have just been taking raw data from the warehouse management system [WMS] and dumping it into systems for the robots to find,” VandenBrook said. “They're not optimizing paths. This week, I was in a warehouse that had just taken out a competitor's product because throwing in more robots just added to congestion.” He cited Onward's team's years of experience and thinking about how to increase throughput as it build software for specific tasks. VandenBrook added that the company understands…
