After a record number of exhibitors (1,000+) and attendees (45,000+) at ProMat 2019, MHI anticipates more of the same at Modex 2020—the industry’s premier supply chain event. Modex will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, March 9-12, 2020. “Our Modex exhibitor space draw, held this past December, brought 640 exhibitors who reserved a record 300,000 net square feet of show floor space,” said George Prest, CEO of MHI. “It’s another sign that the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry continues to remain healthy and growing. That corresponds with what we’re hearing all over the ProMat…
Geek+ (Booth N6327) is introducing a variety of autonomous mobile robots for warehousing and order fulfillment—including e-commerce applications—in its exhibit. Carmen Hung, sales and marketing manager, noted that the company has completed several installations in Asia and Europe. “At ProMat we’re featuring the newest version of our P800 mobile robot, created to navigate under shelves of stored product, then carry them to a central location for order picking,” she said. “This goods-to-person solution allows workers to be more productive and spend less time walking to pick the items they need.” The robots are powered by machine learning algorithms to continuously…
In a press conference on Tuesday, Honeywell Intelligrated’s (Booth S618a) Matt Wicks, VP of product development, discussed several new robotic solutions, including a robotic sorter induction system. “By utilizing a robotic arm that handles a variety of package sizes and types—including boxes, polybags and jiffy bags—the new sorter induction system streamlines labor operations and improves productivity while allowing distribution centers to reallocate staff,” said Wicks. The system is modular and scalable, and easily retrofits into existing induction stations, he added. “Intelligent algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)—developed in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University—enable the robot to improve its own…
Pushed by Amazon to compete with free delivery, often in two days or less, and to provide subscription-based offerings (such as curated box-of-the-month products or routine replenishment of consumables) atop incredibly slim margins, more omnichannel and e-commerce retailers are turning to third-party logistics and fulfillment service providers (3PLs) for fulfillment solutions. View: Top 50 U.S. & Global 3PLs “Just about everybody in retail is being dragged along by what Amazon does,” says Robert Lieb, professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University who has surveyed 3PL CEOs for nearly 25 years. “They are trying to respond with an omnichannel solution…
A pocket sorter integrated with vision-system guided robotic picking and a streamlined conveyor system were showcased by Kevin Reader, director of business development and marketing at Knapp Logistics Automation (Booth S1223), in a Monday press conference. “The vision system has been recently updated,” he explained. “It evaluates the stock keeping units (SKUs) in the totes as they travel along the conveyor, directing the robotic gripper to properly pick up the required SKU. Additionally, the robotic component is faster.” The pocket sorter and robotic picking system are among several Knapp technologies targeting the challenges faced by e-commerce, multi-channel and omni-channel retailers,…
One of the biggest trends in robotic systems developed for use within warehousing pick, pack and kitting operations has been collaboration. This refers to robotic mechanisms that work side by side with humans and interact as needed within a workcell, but with no physical safety barrier between the two. ABB Robotics’ latest offering in that space is the small-parts-handling YuMi, says Rick Tallian, manager of picking, packing and palletizing products and applications.” Users with space constraints in their palletizing zones are eager to see the same type of barrier-free interaction on robotic palletizers that are much larger,” he says, adding…
To build mixed pallet loads from an unlimited number of stock keeping units (SKUs), Axium’s (Booth 4823) load palletizer uses an exclusive algorithm, a vision-assisted product orientor, two synchronized robot arms and an automatically adjusting end-of-arm tool. The system attains rates up to 1,750 cases per hour. Based on CubeIQ software to process orders received from a warehouse management system (WMS), the system first determines the most efficient palletizing sequence based on various criteria (including product weight and dimensions, case strength and stability). Prior to picking, cases are oriented using a vision-assisted product orientor. Then, two robot arms alternatively pick…
Utilizing flexible gripper fork technology to manipulate four to six mixed cases simultaneously, and accurately stack them on a pallet, is the Mixed Case Row Palletizing (MXRP) robot-based palletizer from Grenzebach (Booth 7913). The gripper works with a load station that groups the cases in the proper sequence. It then elevates the products, allowing the forks to gently lift the packages from the bottom, explained Brian Keiger, general industry sales manager. “The forks can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically, letting the device handle various package types, including open top cases,” he said. The gripper works with software that builds…
With mixed stock keeping unit (SKU) order picking and palletizing only getting more complicated, interest in—and application of—robotic palletizing is on the rise. That’s because robotic palletizers flexibly address complexity, particularly when building mixed pallets to customer- or store-specific reverse sequencing requirements. “Whether the pallets need to be built so that each layer represents a different stop on a delivery route or to match store aisles, robotic palletizing systems are flexible, fast and accurate,” says Brian Keiger, general industry sales manager for Grenzebach Corp. “Further, robotic palletizers easily adapt and expand to match changing consumer demands.” Building custom, mixed pallet…
This year, ProMat features three keynote presentations, each offering critical insights from experts into future developments in robotics, business and the supply chain. The first runs Monday morning from 8:45 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom, Room S100, and features Henrik I. Christensen, KUKA chair of robotics and director of robotics at Georgia Tech. In a presentation entitled “The Impact of Robotics on Economic Growth,” Christensen will detail how advances in robotics are revolutionizing manufacturing and distribution operations, as well as share insights into how these developments will propel future economic growth. “We’ve seen tremendous progress in robotics…
