As part of the digitalization of the supply chain, there are many types of technology available today that demonstrate their value in the warehouse process. One such technology is robotics, which improves labor productivity and changes the way products move through the supply chain. Based on first-person feedback, important best practices have emerged to help guide companies that are thinking about the technology.
The Rise of Robotics in the Warehouse
With recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), sensor technology and 3D vision automation, robotics applications in the logistics industry are growing exponentially. Currently, companies across all industries are experimenting with robotics solutions and finding the most promising applications for their logistics operations.
The process around robots in the warehouse can be divided into two types. Inertial robots perform important tasks from a fixed position, attached to the floor, ceiling or other surfaces, and often resemble robotic arms. Mobile robots accomplish tasks without direct input from human users, either following predetermined visible or invisible paths or using real-time planning to move freely.
Mainly due to warehouse staff shortages and uncertainty, many logistics companies are realizing the significant economic potential of implementing robots for repetitive, heavy, which lacks a body. Automating these processes will not only help solve employee safety issues but also enable companies to move skilled workers to focus on technical tasks in other warehouses.
The increasing adoption of robotics in logistics is seen in four main areas that facilitate collaboration and sharing of tasks between humans and machines.
1. Automatic sorting of goods
Organizing materials is a repetitive, fun task that nevertheless requires high-quality production. Workers who have to do this work for many hours in the warehouse tend to lose concentration after a certain period of time, making their work prone to errors and leading to increased costs for recycling. Sorting is therefore a good tool for organizing robots. The technology often uses cameras and AI capabilities to identify items for shipment and use predefined characteristics to sort and organize them.
2. Robot selection and order fulfillment
The manual sorting and sorting of packages, letters, boxes and flyers to prepare them for further processing down the river is a lot of fun and hard work. Robotic induction, the act of picking an object and placing it in a certain way on a conveyor belt as well as identifying its characteristics, is a very poor solution in terms of its widespread use. In addition, the introduction of polling robots can drive efficiency in the overall sequencing process by shortening the distance traveled by humans and reducing the time between polls.
3. Palletizing and depalletizing
The automation of palletizing and depalletizing in inbound and outbound boreator or hub operations has a great opportunity for robots. This includes uniform and mixed (de)palletizing. While uniform (de)palletizing is the movement of goods of the same shape, which does not change from and to the pallet, mixed (de)palletizing describes the handling of pallets with items of different sizes different weight.
4. Loading and unloading
Loading and unloading containers and trucks with loose loads is one of the most demanding jobs in logistics. Workers are exposed to extreme weather conditions and must frequently move heavy equipment into confined spaces as quickly as possible to ensure that ground operations can continue without interruption. The solutions used today are usually for unloading boxes or pallets. However, with advances in robotics software and computer vision capabilities, robots will eventually achieve more autonomous capabilities such as picking up phone cases.
Best Practices for Integrating Robots
Below are some of the most important tips emerging to help guide companies as they introduce robots into their warehouses.
1. Work with trusted technology vendors that understand the storage environment, can support the size and needs of your deployment, and will have the longevity and ability to provide support after the system goes live. Develop their technology knowledge and delivery experience to help ensure technology is deployed with minimal disruption to operations and can provide a return on investment that meets your operational goals.
2. Think about things that need to be picked or heldincluding size, weight and shape, to ensure that they are compatible with the capabilities of robotic technology. Decide how items will be selected and placed, taking into account the type of containers that can be used, special packaging and handling requirements, and items that are purchased frequently. Determine the workflows that work best with your technology and application to ensure that the technology is integrated in a consistent manner to maintain the required performance without negatively impacting your ROI period.
3. Choose the right robotics technology that can easily be damaged. Make sure you and your team understand the resources, investments and efforts required to grow as demand increases or your operations change. Define what you want to achieve with the technology, focusing on the operational challenges you are trying to overcome, the goals you want to achieve with the team and the infrastructure that needs to be in place to continue.
4. Consider the staff and determine where your warehouse staff can be supported and/or productivity can be improved. Identify non-value-added tasks where employees can be relieved so they can focus on more strategic and value-adding activities that improve operational efficiency. Update training and safety programs appropriately to ensure standards are maintained, and any safety issues are quickly identified and addressed.
5. Consider the workplace robots will stay. Consider any obstacles, provide enough space for the robots to work properly and provide the necessary space from your existing warehouse. Also decide how your employees can interact with the robot and if there is a need to adjust traffic patterns in the workplace.
6. Keep safety top of mindchoosing technology that enhances ergonomic principles, improving your safety and training programs and ensuring that steps are taken to enhance safe interactions between robots and workers. Ensure that there is a process in place to identify, resolve and mitigate safety problems and issues.
7. Determine metrics and data that you will use to measure the success of the installation and the performance of the technology, while having a plan to share that information internally and make changes if necessary. Put processes, tools, support (internal and external) and commitment in place to help ensure that decisions are made and actions are taken based on what the data shows.
A growing number of successful proof-of-concept and pilot projects using stationary and mobile robots in the warehouse environment paves the way for wider implementation throughout the entire supply chain. Following these best practice tips will help ensure that the robots you deploy will be an integral part of your warehouse operations, providing the necessary flexibility, performance and productivity .
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