Software from 6 River Systems sends a robotic “Chuck” to an aisle where a human picker badges into the robot and follows it to pick goods from an aisle using the Chuck’s lights, display and scanner to guide and confirm the work tasks. Fetch’s customers include 3PLs such as RK Logistics. Wise says most customers can get ROI in nine to 12 months with Fetch’s AMRs, while their flexibility makes them appealing to 3PLs. In other cases, AMRs can function like conveyor. The main role for Fetch’s AMRs is material transport, moving goods long distances so that a human doesn’t have to do so by pushing a cart or by driving a vehicle. “They are able to make intelligent decisions about the environment, and they can work in environments that are constantly changing.” “AMRs are robots that have on board intelligence and use sensors for obstacle avoidance, not just safety related behaviors,” Wise says. With AMRs, she says, “autonomous” is the key word, whereas with most AGVs, “guided” is the operative word. But the traditional AGV was reliant on tape or other guidance markers, says Melonee Wise, CEO of Fetch Robotics, which offers AMRs. Using automated vehicles for materials handling isn’t new, as automatic guided vehicles have been used successfully in factories and warehouses for decades. “Robotics is where we have to go to remain competitive.” Multiple “bot” approaches “We’re trying to understand which robotic approaches are the best fit,” says Trever Ehrlich, creative solutions manager for Kenco Innovation Labs, an organization of 3PL Kenco Logistics that examines leading edge solutions. While today’s robotics in some cases promise fairly rapid return on investment (ROI), the difficulties in finding enough labor may make at least some use of robotics a forgone conclusion for many operations. Besides the “bot” itself, what other factors are involved in selecting robotics?.How do these robots coexist with human labor and more traditional forms of automation?.What different types of robotics exist for DCs, and what sort of workflows do they support?.“They don’t want their automation to be fixed in a way that makes it difficult to expand or change.”įor potential users of robotics, characteristics like flexibility and autonomy are a good thing, but there is some complexity in assessing all the choices, including: “Logistics facilities are rapidly changing environments, especially warehouses run by third-party logistics (3PL) providers, who might be on three or four-year contracts,” he says. The flexibility of today’s AMRs makes them suited to DCs, notes Sharma. The robots eliminate labor hours consumed pushing goods on a cart. The AMR term has emerged to describe this self-driving nature.ģPL RK Logistics is using Fetch Robotics’ AMRs for materials transport. While e-commerce has increased piece-picking requirements, robotics also has evolved rapidly, with less reliance on guidance infrastructure like tape, and more use of smart, on-board navigation. They are automating more processes, rolling out robots to more sites, or more countries. “While numerous companies have been doing pilot projects for the last two years in warehousing or manufacturing facilities, now they are looking to expand their use of robotics. “We are seeing true exponential growth now,” says Ash Sharma, a research director for Interact Analysis.
According to MHI’s “2018 Annual Industry Study”, 65% of professionals surveyed now see robotics and automation as a major source of disruption and/or opportunity, up from 61% last year.Īnalyst firm Interact Analysis forecasts the market for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and smart automatic guided vehicles (AGV) for logistics will grow from $300 million in 2017 to $3 billion by 2022, or roughly a 10-fold increase. Research shows high interest in robotics. Enter a new generation of robots, based on technology that uses on-board sensors and a more “natural” approach to navigation. E-commerce and omni-channel fulfillment are driving labor-intensive piece picking, and warehouse labor is increasingly difficult to find and retain.ĭC operators know they need to automate to reduce these challenges, but few operations are able to plunk down millions for traditional automation projects that carry long payback times and might be difficult to reconfigure. If you wanted to create the perfect mix of conditions to trigger the growth of a type of automated equipment for distribution center operations, you couldn’t do much better than the factors lining up in favor of robotics.