As more shoppers continue to buy online and as businesses prepare for what is expected to be a record-breaking holiday season, retailers and warehouse operators are turning to automation to meet growing demand and mitigate labor shortages. Locus Robotics, which supplies mobile robots for fulfillment centers, today announced that it has surpassed the milestone of half-a-billion units picked. The Wilmington, Mass.-based company said this achievement occurred just 94 days after it reached the 400 million level.
“Reaching our half-billion-pick milestone this quickly underscores the critical business value that Locus's proven technology brings to our customers around the world as they face exploding order volumes and limited labor availability,” stated Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “As e-commerce volumes increase, the pace of picking with LocusBots is also increasing exponentially.”
“Locus' first 100-million milestone took 1,542 days, while the most recent 100 million picks took just 94 days,” he added. “Locus is proud to have helped our customers efficiently meet this challenge while positioning them for success today and easily scalable growth in the future.”
Locus Robotics said its offering includes autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that collaborate with human workers and can improve piece-handling with less labor than traditional picking systems. The system can help retailers, third-party logistics companies (3PLs), and specialty warehouses efficiently meet and exceed the increasingly complex demands of fulfillment, said the company.
In addition, both existing and new warehouses can easily integrate LocusBots without disrupting workflows, claimed Locus.
LocusBots travel 3M miles to pick varied items
The 500 millionth pick was made at a VF Corp. fulfillment center in Prague, and the item picked was a pair of Vans Old Skool Shoes, according to Locus Robotics. The company noted that its LocusBots have now traveled more than 3 million miles in customers' warehouses, the equivalent of more than 120 times around the Earth.
“Innovation and an unrelenting drive towards customer success have no doubt been drivers in this achievement.” said John Santagate, vice president of robotics at Körber Supply Chain. “500 million picks handled on LocusBots is quite the milestone. Congratulations to the Locus team, and here's to the next 500 million!”
“DHL Supply Chain is committed to bringing innovative and productivity-enhancing technology to our customers with partners like Locus so that they have the capacity and flexibility to capitalize on new opportunities in the marketplace,” said Adrian Kumar, vice president of global operations science at DHL Supply Chain.
“We congratulate Locus on this momentous achievement and look forward to continuing to work with Locus to drive productivity, support capacity growth, and deliver continuous improvement within our customers' supply chains,” he said.
Locus Robotics said its robots and software enable brands, retailers, and 3PL operators to easily meet higher order volumes and increasing consumer demand. They help order-fulfillment operations in e-commerce, retail, omnichannel, and manufacturing to retain valuable customers, said the company.
Global customers, including CEVA, Boots UK, DHL, GEODIS, Whiplash, Saddle Creek, Quiet 3PF, and Radial, are using LocusBots to double or triple their fulfillment productivity while lowering labor recruitment, training, and retention costs, said Locus. In February, the company raised $150 million in Series E funding.
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