Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.57
…are likely. What software system is going to make this happen? Is it a warehouse management system (WMS), a warehouse control system (WCS), a warehouse execution system (WES), a robotics operating system like ROS, or an emerging layer of software like what SVT Robotics has brought to the market? Will it be from the likes of Apple, Google, or Microsoft? I’m betting on the new layer of software, and I think it’s essential to moving robotics forward in our space. Those are some of the questions I want to see explored at this year’s NextGen Supply Chain Conference in Chicago.
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.43
…times. These e-commerce pressures are driving a need for warehouse control system (WCS) solutions, also known as warehouse execution system (WES) solutions, to orchestrate a DC’s automation and balance the flow of work to crank more orders through a facility in less time. Follow priorities When REI came up with the systems for its new warehouse in Goodyear, Ariz., it followed a set of core goals or “tenets” that centered around sustainability and connection with the REI brand. As part of these tenets, REI wanted an order fulfillment method that was simple and efficient, and that would streamline the number…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.40
…best way to grasp the item, much like a warehouse control system that tells a conveyor to convey or a sorter to sort. “If you think of something like package sortation, where you’re moving the work through as fast as possible, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to make decisions,” notes Peter Blair, vice president of marketing for Berkshire Grey. The ROS can contribute to the overall flow. For instance, if the robot was unable to pick an item, the WES can route a tote to another station staffed by an associate to complete the pick, or, if the required…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.21
…place: automated order reconciliation and prioritization – essentially the Warehouse Control System needs to know how much product is available, how much product is needed and when there is not enough product available for the orders being requested, how to prioritize which orders to fulfill first; automated picking – this is the ‘guts’ of the automated warehouse and depends on some form of automated transport capability as well as conveyors and storage assemblies that enable both case and piece picking. As a note, in some cases, this may include having to go back upstream to the vendor and modify the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.15
…system (WMS) to manage the conventional workflow and a warehouse control system (WCS), which actually executes the workflow that uses automated systems. However, throughout the food and beverage industry, distributors are gravitating toward an alternative: warehouse execution systems (WES), a software solution that controls the order fulfillment process once a WMS creates a batch of orders. Typically, the WMS still manages receiving, putaway and inventory management, acts as the intermediary between the warehouse and the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and order management systems and handles shipping. The WCS then directs picking and synchronizes the flow of goods to the packing…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.92
…meet customer demands. Honeywell Intelligrated Booth: S618 New shuttle, warehouse control system Flexible, scalable and fast, the new OSR Shuttle Evo+ maximizes space utilization and energy savings by merging and managing reserve storage and forward picking as a single dynamic ecosystem. Functionally, it combines a high-performance shuttle system with the agility of an autonomous, flexible path transport system—centrally storing goods, raw materials, overstock and buffered orders in a high-density space. Upon retrieval, items are sequenced and quickly delivered where and when needed with a fleet of Open Shuttle automated mobile robots. Also on display, redPILOT software acts as a control…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.91
…existed in the warehouse automation market as well, with warehouse control system (WCS) software having been applied for decades to configure and monitor automation. But market observers say that what is happening now with software is less about governing the speeds and feeds of each zone of automation and more about orchestration of the entire DC as a system, as well as knowing when and how to adjust specific resources to accommodate peaks. Software is an important component of robotics With robotics solutions, software plays at multiple levels. AMR vendors, for example, don’t just make robots, they also offer fleet…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.04
…in investments for automated storage & retrieval (AS/RS) systems, warehouse control system (WCS) software, and the closely related category of warehouse execution systems (WES) software as well as robotics. So, after years of the survey reflecting growing investment in systems for distribution centers (DCs), what’s different this year? It may be that a rising stock market and a continued strong economy, when combined with unrelenting operational pressures around e-commerce fulfillment, have many industry participants moving forward with focused investments in automation to help address the challenges. Additionally, after a few years of increasing investment indications for IS solutions, many companies…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.77
…retrofit. You might use 15-year-old hardware, but change the warehouse control system (WCS) or warehouse execution system (WES) and you get more productivity. Of course this is much less expensive than building a new building. It’s possible to increase productivity by 25% with the same physical assets, and you can reduce the need to flex the workforce if you can scale. Software can inform facility layout, replacing the old-school view of an execution system in one place and something else managing orders. Today software is order management for all of it, including orders, planning, execution and optimization layers. The line…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.28
…orders are also flagged. With that information, Numina Group’s warehouse control system batches the order to generate the highest pick density in a zone with least amount of travel for the robots and order selectors. Multiple robots are dispatched at a time. When a robot is in route to its first pick location, an order selector is also dispatched to the location by the voice system—another new innovation for the company. Picks are confirmed by a ring scanner. The order selector follows the robot as it moves to subsequent pick locations until all of the picks in that selector’s zone…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.27
…orders are also flagged. With that information, Numina Group’s warehouse control system batches the order to generate the highest pick density in a zone with least amount of travel for the robots and order selectors. Multiple robots are dispatched at a time. When a robot is in route to its first pick location, an order selector is also dispatched to the location by the voice system—another new innovation for the company. Picks are confirmed by a ring scanner. The order selector follows the robot as it moves to subsequent pick locations until all of the picks in that selector’s zone…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.12
…solutions—which have only been on the survey three years—and warehouse control system (WCS) software were on the upswing. This year, WCS held steady at 18%, but WES was down 3% to 13%. Still, these two closely related categories of software (they both sit between traditional WMS and machine control) attracted a combined response of more than 30%. When asked about broader areas of spending over the next 18 months, areas that were on the increase included staffing/labor (up by 1%) maintenance services (up 3%), enterprise applications including (up 5%) and outside services/3PLs, up by 3%. There are various reasons why…