BY BEN AMES, SENIOR EDITOR
ROBOTICS
Technology
ROBOTS HAVE LONG SUFFERED FROM A BAD RAP IN
the supply chain, often written off as expensive, high-main-tenance specialty tools that could only generate a return on
investment (ROI) under highly specific circumstances.
Their reputation has been largely rehabilitated in recent
years, however, as labor shortages, rising wages, and an
explosion in e-commerce orders have pushed many warehouses to their limits. Desperate for a solution, some companies are giving robotic systems another look, and they’re
finding that robot manufacturers have upped their game.
Robotic solutions are still a long way from being the
perfect fit for small businesses or operations that handle
specialty items like oversized goods. But a growing number of companies—particularly large third-party logistics
service providers (3PLs)—are finding that the technology
can pay off fast.
While that’s partly a result of falling prices, it has more
to do with recent technological advances. The latest gener-
ation of warehouse robots offer the flexibility to handle a
variety of tasks—such as identifying, picking, and bringing
goods to people; palletizing cases; and loading and empty-
ing trailers—rather than a single specialized function. That
newfound flexibility holds particular appeal for 3PLs, which
typically serve a diverse array of clients with equally diverse
handling needs.
For a recent example, you need look no farther than
Greenwich, Conn.-based transportation and logistics pro-
vider XPO Logistics Inc. XPO has deployed robotic equip-
ment made by French automated handling and storage
systems maker Alstef Automation S.A. at a facility in France
that XPO manages for the McLean, Va.-based snack-food
giant Mars.
Alstef supplied the operation with a robot with an articulated arm that can handle 50,000 to 60,000 packages per
day, using grippers and a pneumatic system to pick up as
many as five stacks of packages at a time to assemble pallets, according to XPO. Encouraged by its initial success
with the robotic equipment, XPO said in March it had
launched a cloud-based warehouse management system
(WMS) designed to support the quick launch of other
robotics-based distribution centers.
ROBOTS THAT DELIVER
Another industry player that has opted for the robotics
route is French 3PL Geodis Group, which recently launched
a pilot program using 30 autonomous mobile robots. The
Once dismissed as too expensive for fulfillment work, robots are rolling into
third-party warehouses and taking operations to the next level.
Robots
carry the
load for
3PLs
