Robotics has recently made significant headway in industrial markets as manufacturers seek to combat labor shortages and mitigate the risk of employee stress injuries by automating repetitive tasks. While the logistics sector also has labor shortages, it has struggled to keep pace with manufacturing in terms of robotics because warehouse robots require more versatile capabilities and sophisticated control. Within warehouses and distribution centers (DCs), automation has traditionally been limited to bulky and expensive conveyors and similar equipment.
Where early industrial robots repeatedly perform a simple, stationary task, warehouse robots must be able to move efficiently about the facility, identify inventory and take it where it needs to go. Early iterations for fulfillment activities could follow only predetermined tracks or paths, which severely limited functionality.
Warehouse automation has risen in recent years, with 2018 boasting a 13% sales increase year-over-year in warehouse-automation technologies even before the 2020 pandemic hit the United States and forced many warehouses and fulfillment centers to operate with a fraction of their normal staff because of the risk of COVID-19 infection.
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