GreyOrange to Deploy Ranger MoveSmart Robots at Apple Express Distribution Facility

GreyOrange Inc. announced yesterday that is improving distribution velocity for Canada-based Apple Express, a national final mile logistics company.

In the first deployment with Apple Express, 145 of GreyOrange’s Ranger MoveSmart (RMS) robots will be seamlessly connected and controlled by the GreyMatter fulfillment orchestration platform at Apple Express' Mississauga facility, which is located just outside of Toronto.

The power of RMS

Twenty-eight employees work at the distribution center and manually sort 2,000 parcels per hour for 360 destinations. GreyOrange’s RMS system, slated for implementation in October 2023, will enable Apple Express to easily scale its sorting operations to over 10,000 parcels per hour for over 450 sort destinations.

The RMS system will also support one-click flexible configuration of destinations, fully automated induction, fully customizable analytics, destination management, auditing, and manual sorting for handling fragile parcels.

“The evolution of human and robotic collaboration will continue to guide the modern distribution center post-pandemic,” said Nasser Syed, president of Apple Express. “Automating our distribution center using GreyOrange solutions provides us with both greater flexibility and scalability for future growth, while already enabling faster distribution and throughput today.”

“Automating vital processes for fast-growing companies like Apple Express is a powerful way to overcome labor shortage risks and increase operational efficiency,” said Akash Gupta, co-founder and CEO, GreyOrange. “As supply chain leaders plan for future growth, it is essential to incorporate a human-robot co-working plan to ensure the best work can be accomplished with minimal manual labor, which allows robots to do the heavy lifting and reduce workplace injuries.”

GreyOrange highlights Gartner report

In a recent Gartner report, “Predicts 2023: Supply Chain Technology,” analysts project that within the next five years, about half of companies will use intralogistics robots from various vendors, therefore requiring a multiagent orchestration platform - like GreyMatter - which powers the robotic fleet and assigns balanced work in real-time according to fulfillment needs.

The report also reveals that by 2026 more than half of companies using intralogistics robots will use a multiagent orchestration platform containing an open API (application programming interface) for seamless connection to control multi-vendor fleets. Therefore, Apple Express’ deployment of GreyOrange solutions now equips the company to solve future challenges, based on analysts’ projections, GreyOrange asserted.