As more robots, people, and other equipment race around warehouses, traffic control can be a major challenge. inVia Robotics Inc. yesterday announced the launch of Traffic Quality Index, a new algorithm in its inVia Logic software. The company said the latest software update will speed up e-commerce order fulfillment by anticipating and mitigating the congestion of pickers in warehouse aisles.
“At a time when consumer demands are intensifying for faster online order delivery, every second added to the fulfillment process is costly,” stated Lior Elazary, co-founder and CEO of inVia. “As we continue to innovate and look at new ways we can leverage our AI technology, the Traffic Quality Index algorithm became a key solution to eliminating idle time and allowing for a swift flow of products. We are driven to continuously create leading-edge tools that help our customers better serve their customers.”
Westlake Village, Calif.-based inVia Robotics uses autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and artificial intelligence to help e-commerce businesses and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) optimize material flow across fulfillment centers. The company claimed that its systems can increase productivity up to fivefold and accuracy rates to 99.9%—at a fraction of the cost of traditional automation.
Traffic Quality Index extends to robots, workers
inVia Robotics said its optimization algorithms calculate the most efficient routes for human pickers to retrieve goods. They assign orders based on SKU proximity, limiting the number of trips people make to the same aisle.
The company said Total Quality Index (TQI) enhances inVia Logic by predicting the movements required to fulfill orders in real time, throughout the day. When it calculates the paths of individual pickers that could overlap and slow down the process, inVia Logic dynamically recalculates those paths to avoid aisle congestion and slowdowns.
Avoiding overlap in the picking process is a core component of how inVia Picker robots are directed to navigate the warehouse, reducing the number of stops and idle time created throughout the day as one robot waits for another to pass by or finish a pick, said inVia.
That same guidance is now available to workers using inVia PickMate, a productivity tool that can direct people on paths to pick, replenish, and put away inventory, said inVia.
The company plans to add TQI to Version 7.2 and later releases of the inVia Logic warehouse execution software.
inVia RaaS helps customers stay ahead of the curve
inVia said its robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model offers retailers and 3PLs a flexible, cost-effective way to increase productivity in existing facilities. The RaaS system allows customers to pay for the productivity delivered by inVia Picker robots, in comparison with competitors that lease or sell robots.
The subscription service includes all system updates and 24/7 monitoring and support through inVia’s Robotics Operation Center (ROC). The company added that subscribers automatically receive inVia Logic system updates and improvements “to stay ahead of the technology curve.”
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