Tracking the robotics revolution

I don’t have to remind Modern readers that the last 19 months has pushed many warehouses and DCs to the brink, ushering in inventory, fulfillment and labor challenges that many have never seen before—and may never see again.

As we work our way through recovery and fulfillment pressures continue to mount at record proportions, operations managers have realized that the need for more flexibility and scalability has become paramount—putting a premium on the adoption of automated robotics systems to prepare for future disruptions and gear up for inevitable growth no matter the size of the operation.

This month in Modern, two features take the temperature of where we are in the application of robotics in warehouse/DC operations. Executive editor Bob Trebilcock takes us inside Top Notch Distributors, a leading supplier of architectural door hardware.

Like many small to mid-sized companies, Top Notch was being squeezed between rising customer expectations and keeping up with growth in a challenging labor market. The answer to their challenge was pretty clear: autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). As a result, picking rates have more than doubled in a safer and more ergonomic environment, while enabling the company’s strategic growth plans.

“We’re clearly seeing that the current environment has pushed many small to mid-sized companies that are leaders in their fields turn to this level of automation to keep up with customer expectations,” says Trebilcock. In fact, while we share how Top Notch turned to AMRs in this month’s System Report, next month we fix the spotlight on another small to mid-sized company that’s now using robotic palletizing.

According to Trebilcock, the back-to-back cover stories illustrate an important trend we’re seeing in the market. “The use of AMRs is expanding beyond the 3PL market where they were initially adopted,” he says. “The implementations are relatively small compared to what a DHL is doing, but they’re delivering results. And now that robotic automation is lower priced and within reach, we’re going to see more small to mid-sized leaders turn to these solutions.”

While we’re beginning to see smaller companies adopt robotics to keep pace, senior editor Roberto Michel reports that, overall, the types of robotics systems available has matured and diversified. He’s finding many vendors today are talking more about fulfillment processes, integration and software, rather than the robots themselves.

“I thought about the headline ‘Robotics without the Robots’ for this story,” says Michel. “That’s because a robotics vendor I’ve been following recently announced an implementation in which the software was installed first to help streamline existing workflows for an operation—the robots were added later.”

According to Michel, this is another important trend to watch as robotics vendors become closer to operations and work to differentiate their offerings in an increasingly crowded market. “Sure, robot hardware continues to evolve,” adds Michel, “but robotic vendors today are talking up their software every bit as much or more so than the ‘specs’ on their hardware. I’d call it the next step in market maturity.”