Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 43.81
Radial Inc. has installed 12 Covariant Robotic Putwalls at its fulfillment center in Louisville, Ky. to sort health and beauty items. Each of the twelve robotic u-shaped putwalls average about one hundred thousand picks per month with a throughput of 425 pieces per hour (PPH) – a performance higher than their manual alternative, Covariant claimed. While working side-by-side with Radial’s staff, the autonomous robots can successfully pick 100% of the stock-keeping units (SKUs) at the Louisville fulfillment center, according to the Berkeley, Calif.-based company. The robots run on the company’s universal AI platform Covariant Brain, which has been pre-trained on…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 28.19
…to keep its carousels and decided to look into putwalls to sort orders and use mobile robots as an alternative to conveyor to transport orders. That led the company to explore Fetch robots from Zebra Technologies that could be used in the place of the conveyor. Not only did the cloud-based Fetch system replace of the conveyor, it has also taken over for associates bringing goods from receiving to the carousels for replenishment. The AMRs also replaced a manual process for removal of dunnage and recycling. “The AMRs drop off the inbound goods at the carousels and order totes from…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 26.66
…customer and the technology provider,” Jentoft says. The automated putwall: Call it a lack of imagination, but I’d never thought about automating a putwall until I spoke to Vargo about a project they did with Kindred, a robotics startup with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. In it, a robot works side-by-side with associates to assemble orders. While neither Vargo nor Kindred were at liberty to identify the end user, Fortune has reported that the Gap is using Kindred’s putwall technology, and included a video of the solution at work in its story. “We believe this is the first commercial…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 20.57
…Many DCs make use of automation such as light-directed putwalls where workers process orders. WES can help avoid inefficiencies at putwalls by intelligently deciding which orders and items should be processed using a putwall, and which orders are best processed some other way, says Dan Gilmore, chief marketing officer with Softeon, which offers WMS/WES software. Generally, it’s best to avoid sending single line item orders through a putwall, as that creates an extra handling step versus a method like pick to cart. “The software needs to be smart enough to identify which orders are best suited for processing through a…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 20.33
…Many DCs make use of automation such as light-directed putwalls where workers process orders. WES can help avoid inefficiencies at putwalls by intelligently deciding which orders and items should be processed using a putwall, and which orders are best processed some other way, says Dan Gilmore, chief marketing officer with Softeon, which offers WMS/WES software. Generally, it’s best to avoid sending single line item orders through a putwall, as that creates an extra handling step versus a method like pick to cart. “The software needs to be smart enough to identify which orders are best suited for processing through a…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 17.18
…number of pick-and-put-to-light displays I saw, picking mezzanines and putwalls appear to be alive and well. Software is more important than ever: For proof, I note that both Dematic and Intelligrated are sponsoring separate booths just for their software offerings. I also noted that systems integrators like Vargo were touting their software chops. Pallets and packaging: As many people know, I grew up in the pallet industry. I wear my bias on my sleeve. Still, there appear to be more pallet and alternative pallet offerings than in the past. What’s more, I counted at least two box on demand solutions.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 17.16
…the robotics company Kindred (I’ll be featuring Kindred’s robotic putwall solution at a Gap facility in the November issue of Modern Materials Handling). I came away with three takeaways from the morning. Labor remains one of the most vexing issues for our industry: Monahan’s presentation wasn’t about the labor shortage facing just about every distribution center in the country. Rather, she focused on the future of work as business and people adapt to the explosion of automation and new technologies in the workplace at all levels. She noted that we will all have to change the way we do work…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 15.24
…including mini-loads and shuttles for automated storage, Kindred.ai robotic putwalls used to aggregate multi-line orders, and robotic storage and retrieval from Exotec to optimize returns handling. Kuntz added that the retailer recently completed a pilot with Boston Dynamics' Stretch robot for automated trailer unloading in Fishkill and has ordered its first two units to be deployed in Gallatin. “We’re going to start with trailer unloading,” he said. Adoption inches to dark facilities Now, two units in one facility may not sound like a lot. But Gap Inc. started with just a few Kindred.ai robotic putwalls in Gallatin during the 2017…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.55
…even outside of reverse logistics. Our automated Robotic Shuttle Putwall (RSPW) was designed to be able to handle shoe boxes. That system can handle those shoe boxes irregardless of whether that's for fulfillment, a distribution operation, or a reverse-logistics operation. Berkshire Grey's Robotic Shuttle Putwall (RSPW) can sort small boxes and items in poly bags to expedite reverse logistics workflows. Source: Berkshire Grey. Returning apparel and e-commerce products to market quickly Are there particular industries or areas where Berkshire Grey's product deployments have been most successful? Geyer: In the apparel space we've had a lot of success, especially in fast…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.35
…well suited to medium automation solutions, where you’re using putwalls, smart carts and robotics,” notes Dan Gilmore, Softeon’s chief marketing officer. Softeon demonstrated its capabilities at ProMat last April and Vargo’s WES manages execution of robotic putwalls in several retail e-commerce facilities. “The goal is to integrate AMRs and robotic putwalls into the workflow because they’re performing with people,” notes Art Eldred, a client executive with Vargo Solutions. That tug of war may be won by the emergence of edge technology, where analysis and decision-making takes place on the floor where work is being executed. This is also referred to…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.29
…make a difference for profitability and sustainability.” Reverse Logistics putwall system sorts returned packages into bags based on brand and category. Source: Berkshire Grey Berkshire Grey offers Reverse Logistics solution “A great reverse-logistics supply chain can be a valuable profit contributor to a retail company through its ability to optimize the resale of returned merchandise at full price,” said a Gartner report. Reverse logistics is different from outbound e-commerce in that order fulfillment involves putting orders in mixed bins, while returns need to be grouped by brand, noted Boyalakuntla. “Standard e-commerce products won't work for returns, and the integration points…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 13.98
…at NRF 2023 at the Javits Center in New York from January 15 to 17. The Sure Sort automated putwall will be on display at Booth 769. Attendees can see a live demonstration as well as meet with automation experts during the expo, said the company. For nearly five decades, OPEX said it has collaborated closely with clients to develop and engineer customized, scalable automation to solve their most significant business challenges.