A new autonomous mobile robotics system being piloted with an online women’s wear retailer aims to improve warehouse productivity, reduce picking errors and address the strain on labour during peak retail seasons.
Implemented by global third-party logistics (3PL) provider Geodis, the pilot uses 30 autonomous mobile robots from Locus Robotics in a 139,000 sq ft warehouse in Indianapolis. The location handles over 30,000 SKUs and uses a manual picking process that is complex and leaves little margin for error, Geodis says.
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“We’re committed to innovative solutions for our customers to address industry-wide challenges,” says Eric Douglas, Geodis EVP of technology and engineering. “The labour market is tight, and we want to enable our team to better execute for our customers. And in this case, the technological support of robots effectively solved the challenge.”
The pilot has seen Geodis undertake training for team members on how to pick to the robots on the warehouse floor. The messaging on the robots is displayed in their preferred languages (English, Burmese, Chin and Spanish) allowing for faster absorption of training and a decrease in picking errors. Picking units to the robots also reduced physical demand by eliminating the need to pull pick carts and decreasing overall travel.
According to Geodis, 80% of the units are now picked to the robots daily. Employee productivity has doubled and there was at least 50% reduction in time to train new employees.
“This is the first of what we anticipate to be multiple deployments of the robots this year,” says Douglas, as Geodis looks to expand the partnership with Locus Robotics in more warehouses with their retail and e-commerce customers.
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By GlobalDataGeodis COO Mike Honious, adds: “While technology can never replace the human aspect of business, the Locus Robotics solution has proven to be a great asset to assist our operations to increase productivity.”
