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Navigating Tumultuous Times Through Warehouse Automation
Industrial automation technology is more necessary than ever. Sure, you’ve heard that before and coming from a company that develops industrial automation technology it might be easy to roll your eyes at what has become common knowledge to many. But consider the number of curve balls the universe has thrown e-commerce, logistics, and manufacturing businesses over the past five-plus years.
A global pandemic, international political strife, supply chain issues, and tariffs. And yes, we’re sorry: we know these topics have been hammered, and you’re tired of them! We are too, but each of these issues has left a trail of unique challenges for companies trying to keep pace with production and order fulfillment. While these factors have impacted companies of all types around the world, let’s take a look at what happened in the world of logistics and warehousing and what has transpired since then as a result.
Persisting Global Disruptions
During COVID, when people weren’t shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce orders exploded. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, e-commerce sales increased by $244.2 billion or 43%, jumping from $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020. As a result, automation became crucial to logistics and warehousing companies, as these businesses relied on the technologies to keep the flow of goods moving.
At the end of 2019, the North American outlook for 2020 was murky, following what A3 president Jeff Burnstein called a tough year. But as demand grew, North American robot orders increased, leading to 3.5% annual growth, anchored by a significant increase in non-automotive orders, including consumer goods. On the mobile robot side, however, global sales grew by 20% in 2020, led by an incredibly strong second half of the year. Without automation, many businesses would have struggled mightily to meet demand or potentially even failed, and this remains the case today and going forward, as Interact Analysis now predicts an annual growth rate of 19% from 2024 to 2030 for mobile robot sales, led by significant growth in order fulfillment robots.
No Labor, No Problem
The years-long labor shortage which for so many companies has meant the inability to fill open roles even during periods when job openings outnumbered unemployment figures. In warehousing environments, jobs can be repetitive and physically demanding, leaving employees prone to injuries or accidents. In addition to labor challenges, supply chain executives are faced with increased operating costs, out-of-stocks, SKU proliferation, and misalignment of inventory with demand.
Major companies working in logistics and warehousing environments cannot deal with constant turnover or lack of labor, which is undesirable and disruptive. Fortunately for them, warehouse automation technologies continue to advance and solve new challenges. These innovations range from improvements in bin picking or general pick and place, robotic end-of-arm tooling capabilities, high-speed barcode reading, and dynamic inspection of objects such as boxes or flatpacks.
With the ability to solve increasingly complex challenges through automation technologies, companies in warehousing and logistics can worry less about endlessly searching for more people to fill job they don’t want, and instead upskill the talent they have. In addition, they can handle even more product variability and spikes in demand, which has posed issues for systems in the past.
Redefining Warehouse Automation
For companies requiring end-to-end automation systems that holistically address the increased need for efficiency, speed, and flexibility, platforms like Symbotic’s AI-powered integrated solution shift the paradigm when it comes to how a modern-day warehouse operates. Symbotic’s system takes full warehouse automation to the next level, offering:
- Robotic cells that process incoming pallets by depalletizing, singulating, and optimizing cases that will be routed into the storage structure at speeds of up to 1,700 cases per hour
- Autonomous robots (SymBots) that transport cases across the dynamic storage structure at speeds of 20+ mph. As orders are processed, smart tasking and routing software direct the robots to pick and deliver cases to outbound cells.
- Vision-guided robots that intelligently palletize cases for the highest density and stability at a cell rate of 1,350 cases per hour. Outbound cell robots build and wrap delivery-ready pallets customized to each store’s needs and aisle-layout, as appropriate.
- Proprietary AI software that offers a control layer, routing-tasking algorithms, and powerful data analytics and is integrated directly into a customer’s WMS to drive the entire operation.
With this degree of flexible warehouse automation, customers can achieve >99% accuracy while maximizing space with high-density storage and dynamically responding to demand without carrying excess inventory buffers. In addition to improving operational efficiency, these systems deliver tangible ROI across a range of industries while protecting businesses against whatever disruption may come next. (Knocking on wood, of course).