Gartner Names inVia Robotics a 2022 Cool Supply Chain Vendor for Mobile Goods-to-Person Technology

With many robotics and software vendors offering competing products, how can prospective users determine which ones to follow? inVia Robotics Inc. last week announced that Gartner Inc. has included it in the 2022 list of “Cool Vendors in Supply Chain Technology.”

“This recognition from Gartner amplifies our continued commitment to solving the random access to inventory issue facing e-commerce warehouses,” said Lior Elazary, founder and CEO of inVia Robotics.

“Consumers today have come to expect unlimited options, delivered directly to their homes, at incredibly quick turnaround rates,” he told Robotics 24/7. This necessitates a change in how warehouses tackle direct-to-consumer fulfillment, and our mission at inVia is to reshape warehouse flows to drive the next generation of commerce.”

Westlake Village, Calif.-based inVia Robotics said it can help e-commerce businesses and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to automate and optimize material flow across fulfillment centers. The company provides autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and artificial intelligence-driven orchestration software.

inVia said it has designed its warehouse systems to be quickly deployed without disrupting existing operations. The company offers its technology through a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) subscription. It claimed that it can improve productivity by four to five times and increase accuracy to more than 99.9%—- at a fraction of the cost of traditional automation.

Picker robots promise to streamline G2P processes

As retailers and 3PLs transition from store replenishment to shipping orders directly to consumers, they face more complicated fulfillment processes that are expensive and time-consuming. inVia Robotics said its mobile goods-to-person (G2P) technology uniquely enables random access to inventory.

Other G2P systems require significant changes to a company’s existing warehouse infrastructure, require high upfront investment, and lack the ability to dynamically adapt to change, said the company. inVia said it solves these problems with AMRs that dynamically retrieve and replenish individual SKUs that need to be randomly accessed for e-commerce orders.

inVia Picker robots operate using a customer’s existing racking and warehouse infrastructure, pulling one SKU at a time and delivering it to a pickwall that contains only that day’s orders.

Gartner recognizes inVia problem solving

inVia Robotics noted that its AMRs and software together manage inventory, orders, and labor assignments. They can help automate all fulfillment tasks including picking, replenishing, putaway, and cycle counting, it said.

Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner said it “delivers actionable, objective insight to executives and their teams,” providing guidance and tools to “enable faster, smarter decisions.” The full list of innovative supply chain technology vendors is available to Gartner customers.

“We build practical technology that solves real issues warehouses are facing on a daily basis, and receiving recognition that our technology delivers value to our customers is extremely gratifying,” said Elazary. “It’s exciting to see how our unique way of solving problems is helping retailers reshape their operations to keep up with their customers’ changing needs.”

inVia isn't resting on its laurels and said is busy helping businesses with current challenges.

“Right now, we’re hyper-focused on supporting our customers through a successful peak retail season,” Elazary said. “Increased consumer demand and longer working hours can overwhelm workers in an industry that is already struggling with high turnover rates and a labor shortage.”

'“Implementing automation helps e-commerce warehouses not only increase their productivity, but also reduces stress on their workforce and retain their labor at a time when they need it most,” he said.