How autonomous mobile robots are driving warehouse productivity

By Sonia Jose, Senior Product Manager, Honeywell Robotics

The growing convenience of online ordering, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a massive increase in e-commerce demand. As distribution centers (DCs) face this new level of operational complexity and increased labor scarcity, warehouse automation has become essential to the survival of any DC operation.

Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are emerging as a cost-effective solution that requires minimal information technology (IT) or infrastructural changes for DCs looking to automate. Advances in AMRs have allowed them to overcome traditional barriers to automation in DCs and complex manufacturing operations. Thanks to innovations in vision, mapping and safety, mobile robots are now able to “share the road” with humans and vehicles, navigate new routes, or respond to order changes. No tape, markers or wires are needed for navigation, and the robots require only a short set-up period to learn their surroundings.

Mobile robots are no longer the technology of the future. Today, DCs are utilizing AMRs to ease labor burdens, improve productivity and safety, reduce errors, and lower operational costs in a variety of scenarios, including:

• Pallet conveyance
• Picking and cart transport
• Automated machine tending

These applications are just the beginning of the possibilities of mobile robotics. AMR technology can be tailored to specific challenges to optimize your unique workflows. And with advanced simulation and emulation tools, operators can calculate highly accurate throughput and performance estimates before beginning site integration.

Download our white paper to learn how autonomous mobile robots can optimize your operation’s workflows.

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Market forces and new technologies give automated distribution centers the edge

By Eric Harty, VP Robotic Solutions Offering, Honeywell Robotics

Distribution and fulfillment centers have been battling to meet the growing demands of e-commerce for quite some time. Those demands were already accelerating at a rate of 25%, but the COVID-19 pandemic has seen consumer e-commerce sales grow an additional 50%. Currently, 80% of distribution centers (DCs) operate with a manual workforce and have a very limited labor pool to choose from. To maximize operational efficiency within this “new normal,” DCs will need to consider integrating robotic warehouse solutions to make up for the labor shortage and increase productivity.

While DCs have been operating with labor shortages for some time, the current e-commerce climate under the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the immediate need to utilize robotic solutions to overcome the limitations of using manual labor. Warehouses that fulfill e-commerce orders are known for seeing a lot of change and managing a variety of SKUs. Although robots are known to operate in repetitive and highly structured conditions, DCs can rely on robotic solutions to integrate data science for quick decision-making, increase productivity, and take charge of monotonous tasks so that manual labor can be better allocated elsewhere in the warehouse.

Automating responsibilities in the warehouse allows for robots to handle physically demanding tasks, while manual labor can be utilized for more advanced and fulfilling warehouse needs. This helps to combat the high turnover rates seen by DCs among lower-level tasks. Another benefit to adopting robotic solutions in your warehouse is quelling the rising cost of manual labor. This means that you will see a financial ROI much quicker than before.

Read our white paper to learn how you can implement the latest technology in DC automation.

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Advances in Technology Are Finally Enabling DC Automation

By Eric Harty, VP Robotic Solutions Offering, Honeywell Robotics

The use of robotics has come a long way from when robots were first introduced as an aid in the workforce. Today’s robots can accomplish complex and repetitive tasks with more precision than ever. With the growing shortage of skilled laborers, robotic software and artificial intelligence offer a solution to common problems plaguing many distribution centers (DCs): remaining competitive and keeping up with the growing needs of the e-commerce market.

Multiple advancements for robotic solutions have focused on making DC productivity more efficient. Mobile robots now come with sensors that help r map out and navigate their surroundings. Mobile robots can also perform lengthy shifts thanks to advancements in battery technologies. In addition, simulation tactics allow robots to be tested before ever touching the DC’s floor. This is helpful in determining where a robot would be most effective from the beginning of its use.

Whether loading, handling items or depalletizing, robots are created with these needs in mind, proving to be helpful additions to the workforce.

Learn more about robotic solutions in the warehouse by reading our white paper.

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By Eric Harty, VP Robotic Solutions Offering, Honeywell Robotics

Robotics in the logistics industry have seen a remarkable transition in just a few short years. They’ve evolved from expensive tools limited to repetitive tasks to become cost-effective, autonomous co-workers capable of responding to constantly changing environments and workflows. Now distribution centers (DCs) are making a new discovery: as effective as individual robots are proving to be, they’re even better when they work together.

Watch this free webinar to explore the proven benefits of robotics designed specifically for warehouse operations, from autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to smart flexible depalletizers. We’ll also share the benefits that result when multiple robotics technologies are combined in seamlessly integrated solutions.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics

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How Automation is Tackling One of the Toughest Distribution Center (DC) Jobs

By Eric Harty, VP Robotic Solutions Offering, Honeywell Robotics

The number and variety of products available to e-commerce consumers have expanded dramatically. With this change comes an increasing number of goods received by retailers and e-commerce operations in an ever-expanding variety of pallet load patterns. Even when a company receives multiple pallets of the same SKU, stacking patterns can vary from pallet to pallet. The processes of breaking down these pallets and placing their contents into storage or a warehouse automation system are common operational bottlenecks.

Until recently, depalletizing has been particularly challenging for warehouse robots to handle. While humans can easily deal with unstructured and ever-changing tasks like unloading a random assortment of items, robotic programming has taken a while to catch up. However, traditional challenges can now be overcome, thanks to major improvements in three key technologies:

1. Advances in vision and perception
2. Development of sophisticated machine learning
3. Innovation in gripping technology

Together, these breakthroughs have enabled the development of a smart flexible depalletizer: a fully automated solution capable of meeting or exceeding the throughput of manual operations. Download the white paper, which highlights the significant benefits smart flexible depalletizers have to offer modern distribution centers (DCs) and other fulfillment operations, and explore the increasingly attractive business case for implementing these solutions.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics

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On The Move Podcast Series

By Jarrett S Tilton, Director Global Marketing, Honeywell

If there’s one trend that will be hot in 2022, it’s a growing need for automated solutions in the logistics industry. There are several reasons why: labor challenges, unprecedented e-commerce demand, plus significant advances in the technologies that drive robotic solutions.

Distribution centers (DCs) have to deal with several growing challenges, all at the same time. There are hundreds of thousands of unfilled jobs within warehouses right now. The most current statistics indicate that the warehouse industry now employs over 50 percent more workers than it did five years ago. And 13.6 percent of that growth was in the last year alone. But it’s still not enough. The warehouse and transportation industries had a record 490,000 openings in July.

Every automation technology that a DC utilizes helps to offset these challenges. The idea isn’t to replace workers. But if you can move an employee from an injury-prone job like unloading pallets to doing quality checks, picking orders, sorting inventory, delivering completed orders, and so on, you can use the workers you have more efficiently to increase fulfillment accuracy and get customers their orders faster.

Listen to the full podcast to discover what other strategies and technologies can help DCs to combat the challenges they are currently facing.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics

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Optimizing the present and future states of DC operations with AS/RS, robotics and software

By Joe Kraft, Director of Software Solutions Consulting

The transition to advanced automation is well underway in distribution and fulfillment (D&F) operations. Within the four walls of distribution centers (DCs), traditional labor-intensive process and material handling strategies are being replaced by more automated alternatives. Retail leaders are beginning to automate and upgrade specific aspects of their DC operations that are bowing under the weight of e-commerce pressures.

Retailers at the forefront of this transition are driven by a desire to mitigate risks to profitability and business continuity by:

• Reducing the dependency on labor
• Increasing throughput rates to meet service level agreements (SLAs)
• Enabling the flexibility to adapt to peak seasonal fulfillment demands
• Keeping pace with year-over-year growth forecasts

New automation investments are focused on achieving strategic supply chain advantages in critical picking, inventory storage and retrieval processes — where peak labor efficiencies are no match for escalating e-commerce fulfillment complexities and SKU proliferation. As throughput levels rise, delivery windows shrink and labor becomes more unpredictable, retailers will find it more difficult to sustain productivity and grow profit margins.

At the same time, emerging advanced automation solutions with integrated software offerings continue to improve, presenting operators with attractive and attainable returns on investment (ROI).

Progress Continues Along Key Functional Areas

High-speed sortation equipment still plays an essential role in large DCs with high throughput levels, high-level order volumes, and associated shipping and receiving requirements. But while the prospect of unbolting traditional sortation and conveyor equipment is still largely unfeasible, integrated automation systems offer opportunities to upgrade the core of many DC operations: picking, inventory storage and order fulfillment orchestration.

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS)

AS/RS can be deployed within existing DCs to maximize throughput and improve receiving, order consolidation and shipping efficiencies. These flexible solutions offer higher storage densities within reduced operational footprints and the flexibility to adapt to a variety of configurations.

High-speed AS/RS shuttle systems are ideally suited for replacing manual picking in high-volume operations. The modular design of racking and storage frameworks enable the addition of new levels and aisles to accommodate future growth in storage demand. Shuttle systems are typically designed with goods-to-person (GTP) and goods-to-robot (GTR) configurations to eliminate picking travel times and allow fewer labor resources to be more productive.

Robotics Integration

The increased integration of robotics is also helping DC managers alleviate growing e-commerce fulfillment pressures. Robotics strategies are focused on replacing undesirable, unsafe and repetitive manual tasks to free up available labor resources for more thoughtful, high-value roles. And in many cases, retailers are turning to robotics to drive productivity levels beyond human capabilities.

While the vision of a fully autonomous robotic fulfillment operation is far from being realized, recent advancements in robotics are helping to transform a multitude of critical workflows, processes and applications such as truck loading and unloading, sorter induction, and transportation of materials.

These flexible robotic options can be adapted to benefit DC operations in a variety of ways:

• They can be activated or deactivated as needed to supplement manual resources and flex for peak seasons.
• They can be quickly reprogrammed for new routes and tasks.
• They can be orchestrated into a variety of automated workflows with a modern warehouse execution system, such as Honeywell Intelligrated’s Momentum WES.

In addition, modern robotics solutions operate using universal control platforms — such as the Honeywell Universal Robotics Controller (HURC) — allowing them to continually adapt to changing DC conditions via robot-to-robot, machine-learning technologies.

Smart Software and Simulation

As D&F operations become more automated and complex in order to keep pace with demand, the integration of advanced warehouse automation software is playing an increasingly important role. Historically speaking, warehouse software was designed to serve very specific functions, which ultimately has added to DC operational complexities. These problems can typically be traced to the presence of multiple software vendors for various automation systems and robotics platforms, which can result in disconnected islands of automation and a continual cycle of obsolescence and upgrade challenges.

Often, this traditional, multi-vendor approach to software makes full DC fulfillment system orchestration next to impossible. Today, retailers and DC operators need to rethink their software strategies and deploy smart warehouse automation software platforms designed to reduce complexities by:

• Unifying disparate automation systems
• Orchestrating all automation systems for full warehouse execution
• Simplifying software support and upgrade management

Modern warehouse automation software like Momentum is designed to provide a single, unified platform for enabling advanced automation in complex DC environments. Momentum gives DC managers the tools to:

• Leverage operational data for workflow optimization and business insights
• Apply machine learning for intelligent decision-making
• Align order release and processing with customer SLAs and priorities
• Maximize AS/RS storage and inventory availability
• Ensure labor productivity and utilization
• Orchestrate advanced AS/RS and robotics into DC workflows

Begin your Transition

Honeywell Intelligrated is providing the advanced technologies and integrated software to help retailers transition from traditional fulfillment workflows to fully integrated automation strategies. Powered by a unified approach to software and advanced data science techniques, these tools can provide complete automation system orchestration while minimizing integration complexities. With decades of material handling industry expertise, we take a consultative approach to develop automation solutions that help forward-thinking companies solve their biggest fulfillment challenges and achieve rapid returns on their investments.

Wherever you are on the continuum of automation, we can help you achieve robust fulfillment capabilities today and accelerate your progress toward an ever-more automated future.

To simulate what’s next, click here.

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By Mike Kelton, Business Development Manager, Lifecycle Support Services, Honeywell Robotics

Unleash the potential of video-enabled technical support in your maintenance operations for rapid diagnosis and troubleshooting of critical issues. Learn how Honeywell Intelligrated’s TechSight solutions utilize optional smart glasses and leading mobile apps for video collaboration between on-site technicians and our expert service team.

Learn how to best leverage data science techniques in your distribution center by viewing Honeywell Intelligrated’s webinar and downloading the application brief, Enable Real-Time Technical Support In Your DC With TechSight.

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By Suzanne McGough, Product Manager, Honeywell Robotics

Distribution and fulfillment (D&F) processes in every industry have been impacted by the pandemic. Research from Modern Materials Handling found that over 40% of operations identified labor challenges in their company. But that isn’t the only obstacle distribution centers (DCs) face in today’s rapidly evolving fulfillment environment. Increased e-commerce orders, heightened customer expectations, the need to fulfill more orders at a lower cost, and errors in processing are all impacting DCs.

Warehouse execution system (WES) software looks to address these key challenges, no matter the DC’s equipment or processes. Whether you are utilizing pick-to-light (PTL) technologies, goods-to-person (GTP) workflows, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), WES can be adapted to fit your needs. WES evaluates your operation from end-to-end and orchestrates all activities — breaking down silos and pulling input from every area to maximize performance. It can optimize staffing levels, coordinate and maximize automation, and leverage data from various parts of the DC to make real-time decisions to increase throughput and meet service level agreements (SLAs).

Learn how a WES can scale based on the requirements of your operation in Honeywell Intelligrated’s webinar and downloading the white paper, Leveraging Data Science for “Decision Intelligence” in the DC.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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By Jason Franklin, Sr. Manager – Product Marketing, Honeywell Robotics

We all know labor accounts for roughly 50% of DC costs, but what happens when you expand your operations? This is where an effective LMS can have an immediate impact on the bottom line. From reducing attrition, creating engineered standards, and training your employees, GoalPost® LMS can reduce some of the costs incurred before, during and after expansion.

To learn how labor management software can help you to manage your operation, watch Honeywell Intelligrated’s webinar and download the white paper, Do More With Less: How to Thrive in a Challenging Labor Market.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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By Eric Harty, Vice President, Robotic Solutions Offering and Sonia Jose, Robotics Solution Offering Manager, Honeywell Robotics

Moving goods throughout warehouses is extremely labor-intensive. Traditional forklifts and conveyors are struggling to keep pace with today’s market demands. Learn how flexible autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) can help you to automate repetitive transport functions on-demand, free up workers and forklift trucks, and allow your staff to focus on value-added jobs by viewing Honeywell Intelligrated’s webinar and downloading the white paper, Optimize Workflows with Mobile Robotics.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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By Matt Wicks, Chief Robotics Solution Architect

With the arrival of Honeywell Intelligrated’s next-generation robotic unloader, it’s finally possible to transform unloading from a labor-heavy, manual chore to an automated, refined process. But what could automated unloading mean for your bottom line?

Let’s start with the improvements you’ll see in performance consistency. Robotic unloaders don’t begin suffering from fatigue halfway through a shift, don’t need breaks, and don’t require constant supervision. The robot’s high performance and flexibility deliver reliable operation day in and day out. You’ll get valuable data to fuel continuous improvement, increasing your abilities to plan and balance your operation. And thanks to its advanced machine-learning capabilities, the unloader won’t start becoming obsolete the day you deploy it.

The robot also enables you to handle significantly higher volumes of product in the same footprint (or even a smaller one), and with greater efficiency. How much faster the robot can work will vary depending on the products your operation handles, but an average distribution center can conservatively expect the unloader to work more than twice as fast (possibly even faster) than a crew of human dock workers.

This in turn may mean that you won’t require as many receiving doors as before, especially if your unloader is equipped with the option to traverse between two or more doors.

Now let’s consider the implications for your workforce and human resources (HR) team. One of the most obvious benefits is that you can reduce your staffing burden. A single operator can manage up to five robotic unloaders, or run a smaller number of robots in addition to other tasks. What’s more, that operator doesn’t need to have a lot of sophisticated technical skills, just a basic level of operational and safety training. And the same simulation technology used to train the robot can be used to instruct operators in a safe, virtual environment.

This opens up new opportunities for management and employees alike. High-performing workers can take more desirable positions, relieving up to 80% of your current dock labor from unpleasant work conditions, improving their job satisfaction and your labor retention. You’ll also lower injury rates — reducing costly downtime and claims — and incur fewer HR complaints.

Finally, let’s look at the financial implications. Robotic unloaders offer you the opportunity for better visibility in your cost outlay. You’ll also reduce overtime and keep rising wages in check.

Here’s an example of how an average DC might benefit. Let’s say you currently have three dock employees, each unloading containers at a rate of $15 per hour. Let’s figure two to four thousand cases per trailer, and conservatively estimate that the robot can unload each trailer in half the time of a human crew (though I’ll tell you right now the actual rate can be a lot faster).

This scenario gives you a labor cost savings of $112.50 to $180 per trailer. If you unload an average of 15 trailers per day, five days a week, you’re looking at a six-figure annual savings: $438,750 to $702,000 per year. That’s pretty significant.

For more details on how robotic unloaders can finally make automation practical in your DC, download our Solve Loading Dock Challenges With Robotic Unloading white paper.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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By Matt Wicks, Chief Robotics Solution Architect

Next-generation robotic unloaders from Honeywell Intelligrated can do more than just minimize delays. Trailers can be unloaded fully autonomously, sending boxes, polybags and jiffy bags downstream in a semi-singulated flow. The robot’s efficiency can reduce your dock labor needs by up to 80%, and might even allow you to free up valuable space by using fewer loading bays.

Here’s how it works:

Using a combination of a vacuum arm and a conveyor sweep system, these robots are capable of handling diverse case sizes and weights, even from trailers that haven’t been loaded with robots in mind. The machine can handle cases from 1 to 75 pounds, and product dimensions as small as a box of tissues or as large as a washing machine. This range is designed to accommodate the variety of sizes, shapes and quantities typically found in today’s e-commerce operations.

But the innovations don’t stop there.

What makes these robots truly revolutionary is a cutting-edge electronic “brain.” Next-generation robotic unloaders are among the first to benefit from the Honeywell Universal Robotics Controller (HURC), which combines high-speed processing, improved vision and machine learning-based decision making with advanced motion planning. This system also offers full connectivity, allowing robotic unloaders to incorporate advanced machine learning and use data from other robots to improve their perception and decision making.

Depending on case size and operational specifications, HURC enables each robot to unload over 1,900 cases per hour — more than double the rate of manual processes. Even at this speed, the same system also enables the robot to handle packages with greater care. The articulated nose conveyor positions itself to minimize drop distance. The system’s unloading aggressiveness can also be customized for each application to ensure customers receive merchandise intact.

Robust operating algorithms, an integrated unscrambler and dynamic side guides minimize the chances of a jam and keep product flowing, while automated exception detection alerts operators to handle unexpected pallets. In the event of fallen or missed packages, the robotic unloader’s nose conveyor automatically adjusts height and angle to sweep them up with ease; no operator involvement is required.

This fully autonomous performance means there’s no need for an operator to remain on standby or direct the machine. Operators can spend that time overseeing as many as four additional robotic unloaders or performing other tasks. And thanks to standard industrial controls and a simple machine design, these employees don’t need advanced skill sets.

To learn more about the technical capabilities of the robotic unloader, as well as the labor-relieving benefits it can offer your operation, download our Robotic Unloader brochure.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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By Matt Wicks, Chief Robotics Solution Architect

Automation Finally Tackles One of the DC’s Toughest Jobs

Ask any DC operator which task causes the most labor headaches, and you’ll probably get an earful about unloading freight on the receiving dock. Few warehouse jobs are more arduous, repetitive and injury prone. Not only are these jobs notoriously difficult to fill — especially in today’s shrinking labor market — but they also have some of the highest turnover rates in the industry.

While unloading has long been a target for automation, previous approaches have been hindered by performance, integration and cost factors. Today, however, the newest advances in robot control systems, gripping technology, perception and dynamic collision-free path planning are finally making an efficient solution available. Robots can now take on the difficult tasks of loading and unloading freight, meeting or even exceeding manual performance without modification to trailers or nearby workflows.

These innovations come at an opportune time, as supply chains are forced to modernize in the face of increasing pressures from e-commerce. Robotic unloaders and other innovative technologies are more commonly seen as critical to remaining competitive, i.e., lowering logistics costs while enabling DCs to keep up with stricter service level agreements (SLAs).

Other benefits are equally clear. Robotic unloaders relieve workers from arduous and repetitive tasks that are frequently uncomfortable to perform, especially in the extreme temperatures of the summer and winter months. They also eliminate many of the most dangerous jobs, allowing workers to be shifted to more satisfying, higher-value positions.

Matching Technology with Unloading 

Finding the technology to automate unloading freight has been a longstanding challenge, mainly because of distribution center (DC) throughput requirements and a variety of package characteristics, including size, weight and type of container.

The industry has seen some attempts to implement automation, such as ergonomic assistance like a conveyor extending into a trailer, and operator-piloted systems that relieve physical burden. However, both of these approaches still require worker supervision throughout the process. This, in turn, fails to address the challenges operations have sourcing labor — a critical need in today’s competitive environment.

Other solutions have emerged that don’t require operator involvement, such as articulated robotic arm unloaders and curtain systems. But each comes with costly trade-offs. Articulated arm systems have speed, maximum size and load limitations, and are not a strong fit for all applications. Curtain systems bring a high risk of product damage and costly, difficult-to-maintain modifications to trailers that are especially challenging when trailer fleets are not under the same ownership.

The Next Generation of Robotic Unloading

Combining multiple innovations with decades of material handling experience has led to the development of a next-generation robotic unloader, currently being refined in pilot programs.

These robots from Honeywell Robotics will be among the first to benefit from a common universal control platform that combines improved vision and machine learning-based decision making with advanced motion planning. Known as the Honeywell Universal Robotics Controller (HURC), this cutting-edge robot “brain” has been designed and built specifically for dynamic, unstructured environments like DCs. With extremely rapid data collection and robust processing power, HURC makes it possible for robots to see better, think smarter, and act faster.

By securely handling massive amounts of data in real time, HURC enables unprecedented levels of active perception as well as a reliable autonomy that requires fewer operator interventions, resulting in greater uptime and faster ROI. Cutting-edge recognition technology identifies products, packages, labels and more. At the same time, the robot senses the locations of objects and people to guide efficient grasping and enhance worker safety.

HURC also enables next-generation unloaders to offer full connectivity, allowing them to incorporate advanced machine learning, adapt quickly to new products or packaging, and use data from other robots to improve their own perception and decision making. These enhancements will allow the machines to unload trucks, trailers and shipping containers in less than half the time, while handling products with greater care.

No Need to Choose Between Speed and Efficiency

The robotic unloader achieves the optimal balance of high throughput rates and package care through an innovative design that uses a robotic straddle arm for picking and an articulated nose conveyor for sweeping. Together, these tools are capable of handling diverse case sizes and weights, even from trailers that haven’t been carefully loaded. The unloader can lift items from 1 to 75 pounds, and product dimensions as small as a box of tissues or as large as a washing machine. This range is designed to accommodate the variety of sizes, shapes and quantities typical of e-commerce operations.

The robot’s advanced vision and onboard intelligence enable these tools to be leveraged for maximum effectiveness, with the highest level of precision and capable of improving through each unloading experience. The robots learn from each grasp, using insights from previous attempts to improve methods for handling new products. This machine-learning capability enables the necessary flexibility to handle the speed and variability of modern commerce. Instead of requiring new programming to handle newly introduced products and packaging types, smart robots can compare them to past experiences and continue the cycle of learning and optimization.

HURC, in conjunction with grasping technology, plays another critical role to provide the necessary level of package care, while enabling fast decision making to meet throughput targets. As different products and packaging types can withstand different levels of force, the onboard intelligence can find the “Goldilocks” setting to strike the balance between a secure grip and package preservation. The articulated nose conveyor positions itself to minimize drop distance — as opposed to dropping items from the top of an eight-foot wall. Furthermore, the system’s unloading aggressiveness can be configured from application to application. Depending on case size and operational specifications, this approach can perform at rates in excess of double a manual operator and ensure customers receive merchandise intact.

Of course, solving the labor challenge doesn’t end with the abilities to pick up and move product. Constant intervention for exception handling or requiring highly skilled technical labor to set up and activate solutions do little to relieve labor pressures.

The system has been designed to be sophisticated enough to do much of its own problem solving, while offering a level of simplicity on par with other commonly used warehouse equipment, such as forklifts. Operators are only needed to prep the trailer, align the robotic unloader, and move the equipment between dock doors. That means just one operator can run up to five robotic unloaders. These employees also do not need advanced skillsets, thanks to standard industrial controls and a simple design.

The unloader is designed and engineered to integrate into existing infrastructure without any additional support equipment. It works in any standard-sized trailer, with no need for tricky alignment, floor coverings or fleet modifications. When integrated with downstream systems, products are discharged either in a bulk or singulated flow, depending on the facility’s needs.

Ultimately, an automated unloading solution of such comprehensive capabilities dramatically changes the labor equation. If a single operator can supervise four or five fully automated unloaders, your labor burden can effectively be reduced by more than 80 percent — dropping from a crew of eight or nine employees to a single supervisor. Peak performance becomes the norm, sustained through the entirety of a shift, at any time of the year, matching or exceeding manual processes.

New Possibilities for Labor and Management

Robotics capable of fully automating unloading tasks bring a new paradigm to the dock. High performance and flexibility push unloading from a labor-heavy, manual task to an automated, refined process.

This opens up new opportunities for management and employees alike. High-performing DC workers can take more desirable positions, with relief from unpleasant work conditions. Management gets to replace uncertainty and staffing challenges with a reliable, automated process, with data to fuel continuous improvement.

In addition to reducing the labor requirements needed to maintain or even increase volume, robotic unloaders also help reduce other costs:

• The solution reduces injuries by moving human workers out of one of the most dangerous warehouse jobs.
• Improved employee retention leads to lower rehiring and training costs.
• Simplified labor allocation is made possible by predictable throughput, reducing both the risks of overstaffing and the need for costly overtime.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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By Matt Wicks, Chief Robotics Solution Architect

Today’s distribution center (DC) operations struggle to keep pace with the speed and complexity of modern e-commerce, with volume increasing at around 25 percent each year. DCs need to keep pace with rising customer expectations for order speed and accuracy, even as growth pushes the limits of their capacities.

The demand for labor is increasing significantly, outstripping the available labor pool by a ratio of six to one. Worse, 60 percent of supply chain jobs require skills that only 20 percent of the workforce possess. And if workers can be found, many jobs are repetitive and even dangerous — resulting in low morale, high turnover, retraining and the associated costs. These factors make the case for robotic automation stronger with each passing year.

Smarter robots are critical to handling DC order volumes, speeds and complexities

A new generation of smarter, more versatile and affordable robots is helping distribution centers function at levels far higher than ever before. Armed with the latest advances in vision systems, sensors, grasping, mobility and other technologies, these new mechanical helpers are cost-effective methods to maximize DC productivity, from receiving to sortation to shipping.

Filling the labor gap through digital transformation 

Robotic automation in warehousing and distribution environments can be challenging. Products and packaging materials constantly change. Orders and logistics needs dictate the movement of products. Robots also need to “share the road” with people, both on foot and on equipment. Navigating these environments requires human-equivalent levels of awareness and flexibility.

That complexity may be why manual operations are still the norm for many DCs today. But that business model is becoming increasingly unsustainable — and not just because of labor shortages. E-commerce requires more labor per item as DCs pick and pack more online purchases individually. Freight and parcel handling labor requirements are also on the rise, as more goods are being shipped directly to consumers’ homes.

The robots are here

The latest wave of automation, robotics address many of these challenges by providing support in the most labor-intensive DC areas and taking on the burdens of the most physically demanding and injury-prone jobs. Today’s DC robotic solutions include:

• Articulated arm loaders/unloaders. For trailers carrying stacked products of a consistent size, vehicle-mounted articulated arms do double duty by both loading and unloading the trailers quickly, with minimal operator supervision or intervention. There’s no need to change processes or add supporting equipment.
• Mobile robots. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) can transport loads up to 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds). These intelligent robots use superior vision and mapping technologies to navigate warehouse environments, requiring only a short integration period to learn their surroundings and avoid obstacles, ranging from people to fork truck tines.
• Robotic each picking. Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled autonomous robots with new gripping and vision technologies augment human workforces in picking applications. Grasping objects with the dexterity comparable to a human hand, these robots automatically retrieve, sort and fulfill orders at more than 600 picks per robot per hour. Visual recognition enables the robots to pick from heterogenous or homogenous bins with little or no supervision.
• Robotic palletizing. Robots for placing products onto pallets are relatively easy to integrate into distribution systems, especially where product sizes and weights are known. Among the simplest automation systems, they fit into compact layouts and provide exceptional load identification and tracking accuracy.
• Full-layer depalletizing. These systems can pull complete layers off single-SKU and limited-SKU pallets — often pulling 500 pounds per layer. This frees workers from one of the most arduous, repetitive and injury-prone jobs. Today’s full-layer depalletizing robots handle a wide variety of items, from cases to bags of variable-layer heights, sizes and weights, and easily adapt to packaging and labeling changes.

Significant new robotic advances 

Robotic unloading. Fully automated unloading of trucks, trailers and shipping containers relieves a major labor demand. New robotic unloaders from Honeywell Robotics use a vacuum arm and a conveyor sweep system to unload diverse case sizes and weights onto a take-away conveyor. No fleet modifications are needed, even in trucks designed without automation in mind. These are among the first robots to connect to the Honeywell Universal Robotic Controller (HURC), a cutting-edge “brain” that combines the latest sensor technology and processing power and state-of-the-art machine learning and AI.

Robotic sorter induction. Honeywell Robotics sorter induction systems can replace or supplement manual induction, boosting efficiency while freeing workers from monotonous jobs. Sorter induction robots handle a variety of package sizes and types, including polybags, jiffy bags and boxes, with automated label orientation and optimized sorter tray loading. And because the robots are designed for existing workflows and the typical products seen in postal and e-commerce applications, integration costs and technical risks are low.

A collaboration for DC robotic automation 

Honeywell Intelligrated is applying its deep knowledge of logistics, distribution and materials handling alongside R&D expertise and industry collaborations with Carnegie Mellon University, Fetch Robotics and Soft Robotics to develop tomorrow’s robotic automation solutions for today’s DC challenges.

Find more details on the evolution of robotic automation in this On The Move article.

Sponsored content by Honeywell Robotics.

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