Seven Types of Warehouse Robots: Considerations for Leveraging Robots in the DC

The demand for fast and accurate order fulfillment continues to experience exponential growth, driving the increased need for labor. Labor costs continue to increase, and despite higher wages, companies are finding it a challenge to recruit, train and retain workers.

Add to that measures required to keep workers safe, and robotic solutions become an attractive option for companies looking to increase productivity and reduce cost.

Robots can be used for different aspects of fulfillment, including picking (to reduce all or some of the walking/traveling that drives down productivity), physical pick and place (to reduce touches), packing, and transport of product between staging areas for put away or replenishment of inventory.

In this paper, we will describe seven types of warehouse robots and their benefits, use cases and challenges providing a framework for how to think about leveraging robots in distribution operations.