How would it affect your business if you could lower your warehouse labor expenditures by up to 50%, add around the clock shifts that squeeze even more production out of your facility and have visibility to troves of real-time metrics on all aspects of your material handling operation? Warehouse robotics systems can help you reshape your business, lowering expenses, supercharging productivity and amplifying profitability.

Types of Warehouse Robots

Although a few of warehouse robotics technologies have been available for many years, others are state-of-the-art engineering marvels that could possibly disrupt the warehousing business as we know it. The primary classifications of robotics system are:

Articulated Robotic Arms: Robotic arms with multiple joints can grasp and move products in a warehouse. They're often used for receiving operations, like relocating products from pallets to racking, or in production scenarios, for picking and packing.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Unmanned aerial vehicles, conventionally know as drones, can provide real-time inventory data in a facility through the use of RFID technology.

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) : AS/RS can pick up inventory from racks and put items in their appropriate storage positions. Examples of AS/RS solutions are cranes that retrieve goods between aisles, vertical or horizontal carousel systems and shuttle systems.

Goods-to-Person technology (G2P): In lieu of using human labor to pick items from storage locations, G2P technology uses robots to supply goods to picking stations, where employees are positioned to fulfill orders as products are delivered.

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) : AGVs, including self-driving pallet jacks, forklift or carts, transfer inventory between areas within a warehouse. Cart based AGVs are sometimes known as AGCs, or Automatic Guided Carts.

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) : Similar to AGCs and AGVs, AMRs can move goods throughout a facility autonomously. In contrast to AGCs and AGVs, which traverse set routes often controlled by wire tracks or magnetic strips, AMRs make use of cameras, maps and sensors to negotiate frequently changing routes by interpreting their environment.

Applications For Warehouse Robots

In the past, robotic applications in distribution centers and warehouses, warehouses and distribution centers were limited to a small number of taks. As technology has improved, robotic capabilities have exploded and they can now be applied to almost any task in a warehouse:

Loading and unloading: Although complete automation of unloading and loading trailers is not yet a reality, automated systems like AGVs and conveyors can be added to augment your loading dock efficiency.

Palletizing and de-palletizing: Robotic systems are ideal for tedious, recurrent tasks like palletizing. These types of robots normally make use of a special End-of-Arm Tool to collect products and set them on a pallet. They're commonly used in combination with with conveyor systems that transport items to the palletizing area.

Sorting: Robotic sortation systems must be able to pick up items, identify them and place them in a suitable storage slot or bin. As products pass by on a conveyor, these systems use cameras to identify individual items and select them.

Picking: A considerable portion of the workforce costs in a warehouse come from order picking activities, and robotic picking tehnologies have been around for quite some time to help tackle this concern. Nevertheless, contemporary robotic picking systems offer increased speed, improved accuracy, more efficiency and far better value versus systems of even a few years ago.

Packaging: Robotic solutions are ideal for recurrent and tedious jobs like packaging. They can also be used for more complex jobs like weighing, dimensioning and cartonizing.

Transportation: Robotic transportation systems have wide-scale use in warehouses, from simple AGVs / AGCs to AS/RS integrated conveyors and AMRs.

Storage: AS/RS implementations include a variety of warehouse robots, including mini-load systems, cranes and pallet shuttles. AS/RS is also sometimes used together with mobile racking systems to maximize space utilization.

Delivery: Leading e-commerce businesses are experimenting with self-driving trucks, autonomous delivery drones and other technologies that will fundamentally change home and warehouse delivery options in the coming years.

Replenishment: Leveraging RFID to monitor inventory, warehouse drones can scan barcode labels in half the time of manual scanning and communicate stock data back to the WMS instantaneously.

Industrial Robotics Companies Near Me

To find out more about industrial robotic solutions for your business, speak with an automation expert at Raymond West today!

Raymond's Seattle service operation includes most of Western Washington, including Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Bothell, Woodinville, Lynnwood, Everett, Tukwila, Renton, SeaTac, Burien, Kent, Federal Way, Fife, Sumner, Auburn, Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Olympia, Lacey and surrounding areas.

Raymond West | Seattle Material Handling Equipment Supplier

6607 S 287th St
Auburn, WA 98001
(253) 333-2100