To hear John Santagate tell it, in the not-too-distant future we’ll see warehouse dock workers wearing robotic exoskeleton suits and lifting 200-pound boxes in Ironman-esque fashion with no other assistance. With very little exertion, and without the typical ergonomic problems associated with the continuous lifting and moving of heavy items, these futuristic “exosuits” will help ensure higher safety levels—and a speedier process overall—in an area of the warehouse where hefting heavy loads is the norm. This is just one example of how the convergence of humans and robots could play out in the warehouse and distribution center (DC) of the…
Tasked with supporting the fulfillment across a growing number of distribution channels, warehouses and distribution centers (DCs) are increasingly looked upon as strategic business assets versus cost centers. Where in the past a warehouse or DC was simply a storage facility for goods or a place to put “stuff” as it made its way through the supply chain, the modern-day facility must be agile and capable enough to support brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, B2B, home deliveries and parcel shipments—to name just a few. Achieving this balance requires one of two things: a whole lot of labor and real estate, or advanced technology…
RightHand Robotics (Booth S1891) is demonstrating RightPick, a combined hardware and software solution that handles the key task of picking individual items or “piece-picking.” With RightPick, businesses can reduce the cost and improve the reliability of e-commerce order fulfillment for pharmaceuticals, electronics, grocery, apparel and countless other industries. As e-commerce continues to grow, the trend is away from bulk or pallet-load handling toward single SKUs and piecemeal items. Unlike traditional factory robots, RightPick handles thousands of different items using a machine learning backend coupled with a sensorized robot hand that works in concert with all industry-leading robotic arms. “The supply…
Well, another great Modex materials handling/supply chain show is in the record books, and this year’s event was definitely worth attending and participating in. As I navigated my way among the exhibit booths on the expo floor every day, I was impressed at the level of innovation and technological advancements that each supplier brought to the show. From cutting-edge robotics to user-friendly software to state-of-the art storage equipment, exhibitors at this premier trade show clearly put their best feet forward when presenting themselves to the 25,000+ attendees. And speaking of attendees, many were on a mission to find the latest…
IAM Robotics (Booth 4071) introduced itself to the world and unveiled Swift, its autonomous mobile picking robot. Named one of four finalists for the show’s “Best New Innovation” award, the company is giving live demonstrations of its breakthrough technology at the show. The robot is the key part of a complete order fulfillment solution being introduced by the company, which includes IAM Flash, a 3D item scanner and SwiftLink fleet management software. “Properly executed robotic picking is a game-changing technology for supply chain and warehouse managers,” said CEO Tom Galluzzo. “This is a dream that the material handling industry has…
Visions of autonomous robots scooting around the warehouse floor, gathering data and performing tasks in a 24/7/365 environment—all with little or no human intervention—have been dancing around in the minds of designers and engineers for decades. Thanks to advances in technology, the high cost of labor and the ongoing push to eke more productivity out of the supply chain, robots are being called on to store, move, pick, put-away and sort inventory in more warehouses and DCs. At least for now, it’s the early adopters that are jumping into the fray, namely due to budgetary and cultural challenges associated with…