• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Q&A | What Are Robots Doing in the Warehouse?

Q&A | What Are Robots Doing in the Warehouse?

December 7, 2018
Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Are robots taking over the warehouse? Or are they "collaborating" with humans? Fergal Glynn, vice president of marketing with 6 River Systems, discusses the role of automation in distribution facilities.

Q: What’s the state of the art in the use of robots in distribution centers and warehouses today?

Glynn: They're being used for many different purposes, particularly e-commerce fulfillment, store replenishment, and service-parts picking.

Q: What are the robots actually doing in the warehouse?

Glynn: A collaborative robot works alongside a human, to help make that job faster or easier. Robots are helping associates to pick more quickly and accurately, and to interleave tasks such as picking and replenishment.

Q: Are the robots doing the picking, or telling the people where to pick?

Glynn: There are a lot of variations in the market. We’re working on a mobile pick cart that directs a user through the warehouse. The associate follows the robot, which shows with pictures and colors what to pick. The associate then scans the product, and the robot confirms that they picked the right item and count.

Q: What value does the robot bring to the operation?

Glynn: It allows you to get rid of the non-value-added walk – moving product from point A to B. And it uses software to intelligently group orders, so the associate walks in the aisle less. There are companies building robots that follow the person, and there's another scenario where a person is walking around and when they see a robot, they walk over and perform a task on that unit.

Q: Are there safety issues to overcome?

Glynn: When you have a piece of moving equipment that an associate is going to be working with all day, safety needs to be your number-one priority. We’re investing a lot in making sure that our robot is not only safe, but also that it's okay to work with. For example, if a robot is traveling down an aisle and a person stands in front of it, the robot is able to stop really quickly. Imagine a human is coming the wrong way down a one-way aisle, and a robot is going the correct way. Without thinking about this problem, you would probably program the robot to stop when it sees the person, who then might take a step back. What will the robot do then? It will drive a bit forward, and the person will take another step back. That would make the person feel very uncomfortable. So we need to think about how the robots and humans interact with each other, to create not only a safe environment, but also a comfortable one.

Q: What’s the endgame of this technology? Will we see more and more warehouses that are completely automated?

Glynn: To be able to automate something completely, you need to understand all the permutations. It’s a very difficult problem to solve. We're a long, long way from making that happen. Right now, companies are concentrating on how they can make a collaborative robot that helps associate become faster and better at their jobs.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

HR & Labor Management Robotics
KEYWORDS Automation & Robotics HR & Labor Management Warehouse Automation warehouse robots
  • Related Articles

    Q&A: The Value of Humans in the Factory — and Robots in the Home

    Q&A | The Warehouse Labor Shortage: Problem and Solutions

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Watch: Modernizing EDI to Scale Freight Procurement

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • DOCUMENTS BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION LIE ON A TABLE

    New CBP Regs Call for Greater Diligence by Brokers in Reporting Security Breaches

    Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • GSCMS-Promo.png

    Watch: Introducing the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit

    Education & Professional Development
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • DEEPLY CRACKED EARTH UNDER A BLUE CLOUDY SKY

    Why Maritime Supply Chains Must Adapt to Sustainability Regulations

    Ocean Transportation

Digital Edition

Scb nov 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing