Articles
Robotics
OTTO Motors Founder Talks AMRs, APIs, and Entrepreneurial DNA
After starting his materials handling robotics company with just $200, Matt Rendall has learned to focus relentlessly on product and customer development, lead with humility, trust his gut, and allow his team to learn from mistakes.
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: AMRs & AGVs
Automated Compact Truck (ACT): The ACT line is ideal for heavy-duty lifting in narrow spaces. The latest offering from Rocla AGV Solutions, part of Mitsubishi Logisnext, is suitable for higher warehouses, where it works as a companion for other high-lifting vehicles and manually operated forklifts. ACT can operate between warehouse and production or inbound and outbound areas, and it fits in existing warehouse environments with minimal rack
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13 Top Benefits of Automating Your Supply Chain
From attracting talent to boosting visibility, here are the advantages you gain from automating some or all of your supply chain.
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Logistics Solutions: Robots Step Up
Taking on repetitive and potentially dangerous tasks in supply chain operations—from unloading containers to materials handling—robots are driving efficiencies in warehouses and distribution centers. And they’re getting smarter, thanks to AI.
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Warehouse Solutions Hit the Mark
These warehouse innovations rack up efficiency gains and process improvements, bringing competitive advantages to supply chain operations, big and small.
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Five Best Practices that Support Accelerated Supply Chain Digitalization
There has been incredible progress in supply chain digitalization over the last several years. Technologies that were considered novel just a few years ago are now common while a host of new solutions have been introduced. Here are just a few examples: Robot-assisted and goods-to-person picking technologies have largely displaced manual each picking. Autonomous pallet […]
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Automating Warehouse Operations: Where to Start and How to Maximize Gains
Deploying automation and robotics in the logistics industry has gained in urgency in recent years. No longer just the prerogative of global corporations, automation is also key for small to mid-size companies grappling with ecommerce acceleration and seeking efficiencies in their supply chain operations.
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4 Reasons for the Warehouse Investment Boom
Right behind the frenzied investment in ChatGPT and related AI is an investment boomlet in distribution center and warehouse automation and robotics. Four convergent trends are at work here. 1. Driven by current economic challenges is the necessity to extract every ounce of ROI from each sale’s dependency on inventory and the infrastructure that supports […]
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Ins and Outs of DC Efficiency
Growing SKUs, a labor shortage, and demanding customer expectations are driving many companies to enhance and automate their distribution center operations. Take a look at what they are doing.
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To Efficiently Unload Trucks, You First Need to Dance: A Winning Collaboration Between DHL Supply Chain and Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics has established a reputation as one of the most innovative and advanced robotics companies in the world. Much of this reputation has grown through the many videos of its dancing robots. And, while the videos are fun, they also serve a very real purpose in spurring innovation and advancing robotic technology. The videos, […]
Read MoreRobots, Robots, Robots
Robots generated much of the excitement and glory at MHI’s recent ProMat exhibition in Chicago, especially the ones that walked on two feet. Bipedal humanoid robots are sexy and you can’t blame logistics pros for being intrigued by the possibilities. But robots with no legs are still doing most, if not all, of the real […]
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Bye, Bye Barcode?
For more than 70 years, the barcode has been an integral component of nearly all supply chains. But is the ubiquitous technology taking its last breaths after Amazon announced it is developing a new warehouse reader technology?
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Managing Your Automated Warehouse
While more than 80% of warehouses are not automated, everyone is thinking about it. As supply chain technology continues to evolve, here’s what to consider if it’s time for you to implement automation and robotics to improve warehouse operations.
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Robotics Demand Skyrockets
Robots are seeing a population growth. By 2027, more than 4 million robots will be installed and operating in warehouses and distribution centers. Shipments of mobile robots jumped 53% in 2022 when compared with 2021, driven by increasing e-commerce, labor shortages, and shifting manufacturing methods, finds research from Interact Analysis. The market will experience compounded […]
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What’s the Word? The Language of Logistics
IL breaks down the logistics terms gaining traction in 2023 (from social commerce to footprinting) as well as defines the basic concepts that keep cargo moving.
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3 Top Emerging Automated Solutions
Within the four walls of distribution centers (DCs), more automated alternatives are replacing traditional labor-intensive process and material handling strategies. Operations leaders are beginning to automate and upgrade specific aspects of their DC operations that are bowing under the weight of e-commerce pressures.
Read MoreRobots: Walmart Advances, Amazon Retreats
When faced with anticipated fall-off in consumer purchases, Walmart leans into new robotic solutions. The retailer also re-tasks existing store infrastructure by attaching market fulfillment centers (MFCs)—compact warehouses inside, or tacked onto, retail stores to help fulfill pickup or delivery orders. It gets inventory closer to the customer and amps delivery velocity to serve consumers […]
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Automation and Materials Handling Innovation: And The Award Goes To…
Let’s hear it for these seven warehousing and materials handling innovations that take the crown for addressing e-commerce growth and labor shortage challenges.
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Find the Right Robotics and Automation Fit for Your 3PL
Choose the solution and vendor that can work hand in hand with you to analyze your objectives and design a solution that supports your needs. Here’s how.
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