Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.55
…the tool kit, including mini-load automated storage and robotic putwalls, to name just two. The company has long had a “fail fast and try again” attitude toward innovation. And, when Gap finds a technology that works, it adapts it to standardize operations across the globe. In January 2021, Gap updated its primary e-commerce DC outside of Columbus, Ohio. The company added 400,000 sq. ft. to a facility that was alread 800,000 sq. ft., as well as new automation. The project doubled throughput capacity. The project was guided by Gap’s core operating principles, such as “Keep it simple,” claimed Kevin Kuntz,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.30
…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 4.12
…AMRs. They include goods-to-person automation, voice picking, light-directed picking, putwalls, conveyors, and smart carts. According to Strauss, internal considerations included the capital investment required to implement and deploy those systems, the operational benefit each could provide over the next five to 10 years, and the cultural impact on associates. Top Notch also considered the change management that would be required to deploy and operate the systems. After printing order labels and applying them to shipping cartons, an associate loads the cartons onto an AMR. Source: 6 River Systems 6 River Systems impresses At ProMat in April 2019, a team from…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.15
…products at the company, which recently released a robotic putwall system. Not only does Berkshire Grey ensure that its robots work with major WMSes, but it also focuses on the other direction, he said. This bi-directional flow lets a WMS or another system know if a SKU or label was damaged or any item was unable to be processed by the robot. Even if AI capabilities can deal with variations, partners must consider it a part of integration, Boyalakuntla explained. “We make sure that when we turn on the lights and commission [a system], the pick rates and the throughput…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 12.37
…Companies can connect their warehouse management systems (WMS) and material handling equipment (MHE) such as takeaway conveyors, slides, and putwalls to Locus for end-to-end workflow management. Locus Robotics offers autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that can collaborate with human workers to improve piece-handling productivity and integrate into existing warehouse infrastructures without disrupting workflows. The company this year joined the Inc. 500, ranking No. 428.
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.91
…wide range of industrial robots to manage order picking, putwall, sorter induction—all for companies in various industries with drastically different types of products to manipulate,” said Peter Chen, CEO of Covariant. “The breadth of use demonstrates the Covariant Brain can help robots of different types to manipulate new objects they've never seen before in environments where they've never operated.” Covariant adds executives for growth Returning investor Index Ventures led Covariant's Series C round, with participation from Amplify Partners and Radical Ventures. The company also added new global investors, Temasek and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). The latest funding…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.73
…(SKUs), then spend time and energy walking to a putwall to sort the SKUs to orders for picking. GreyOrange’s Ranger GTP autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) bring inventory to warehouse associates at a picking station. The company's GreyMatter software orchestrates robots, people, and inventory for fulfillment in distribution centers and warehouses. GreyOrange has core operations in the U.S., Singapore, Germany, Japan, and India. Orlando, Fla.-based Tompkins Robotics’ tSort is a modular materials handling system whose AMRs can deliver a wide range of items and parcels to consolidation points. The integration between GreyMatter AI and Tompkins Robotics' warehouse execution software (WES) is…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 20.58
…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 20.34
…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 14.36
…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 10.61
…robotic startup that right now is specializing in robotic putwalls. An example is the way the Kindred robot learns to pick an item – in the best case scenario. Using vision systems, it scans the item and using artificial intelligence – think of it as applying past experience - identifies the area where it can pick up the item. If that pick is successful, that information becomes part of the robot’s historical data base that can inform picking another item that looks similar. If unsuccessful, a robot pilot – an individual at a remote location monitoring Kindred robots – can…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 17.18
…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…