automatically displays in the worker’s preferred language,
eliminating some of the frustrations caused by language
barriers. The Locus robots at Geodis’ Indianapolis DC
“talk” to workers in English, Burmese, Spanish, and Chin,
a Southeast Asian language spoken in Burma, India, and
Bangladesh.
In addition to creating a better work environment, the
new process has allowed the facility to get more product
out the door. “Our labor force is more productive with
the robots than without. And every percentage point in a
10-percent-margin business is critical,” Douglas said.
It helps that the economics of robotics have changed
greatly over the years. Robots have become more affordable because the falling cost of components like circuit
boards and chassis has made them cheaper to manufacture,
according to Douglas.
Maintenance costs have also come down, since much of
the complexity of robotics operations lies in their routing
and control software. That means the bots themselves can
be tuned and repaired by Geodis’ in-house mechanics. “We
have our own technicians in the field, and let me tell you,
if they can fix a lift truck, they can fix a robot,” Douglas
said. “If you open up one of these Locus robots, they’re not
R2-D2; it’s just caster wheels and a circuit board, and they
can replace either of those.”
ROBOTS PULL THEIR WEIGHT
As for the outcome of the pilot, Geodis reports that the
results have been “staggering.” Since the program began in
October 2017, the 3PL has shipped over 600,000 units in
over 300,000 orders. Today, 80 percent of units are picked
to the robots.
Deploying robots for fulfillment work in the warehouse
has also helped Geodis save on labor costs. On top of that,
employee productivity has doubled and training time for
new hires has been cut in half, the company says.
Douglas acknowledges that the 100-pound Locus bots
might not be as effective if Geodis were handling heavy
pallets or large automobile tires at the DC. But they’ve been
a great fit for an operation that mainly handles small to
medium-sized orders requiring a high percentage of each-picks, he said.
“Although goods-to-person robotics is relatively new,”
he added, “it’s showing up at the perfect time [to help users
meet knotty industry challenges].”
With those kinds of eye-popping results, robots are defi-
nitely speaking a language that any 3PL can understand.
Time will tell whether the technology catches on in markets
beyond the large 3PLs. But this much is clear: Robots have
the potential to transform fulfillment. And nobody’s put-
ting them in a corner now.
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