Vargo and Kindred partner for robotic put walls

Last year, Vargo (Booth B3627) went live with three major e-commerce facilities for retailers and wholesalers, including a robotic put wall system for The Gap.

Powered by Vargo’s continuous order fulfillment engine (COFE) and warehouse execution system (WES), as well as machine learning AI from robotics startup Kindred (Booth C2253), the system consists of a fixed robot at the center of a circular put wall. The claw-type robot learns how to pick items, recognizing the different handling requirements for sunglasses and jeans, and was quickly able to pick 385 to 558 units an hour.

Art Eldred, client executive of systems engineering for Vargo, said the company’s experience with WES is helping it expand its integration of robotics.

“We’re trying to simplify the WES space. We know what a WES is good at and what a warehouse management system (WMS) can do,” Eldred said. “If there are no lines of demarcation, they encroach on each other and it can become messy quick.”