Robot Roundup - Volume 1

Here is your weekly round up of the latest headlines in the world of robotics!

Pio is now available to all small and midsize e-commerce business in the United States!

Pio, meaning Products in/Out, is a plug-and -play warehouse system utilising cube storage technology from AutoStore?. Pio was created by Autostore and by utilising their technology it has helped them gain a foothold in a market that Autostore was at times too big and too expensive for.

Pio have launched with 5 customers in the US so far with their P100 warehouse system and if the growth of Autostore is anything to go off, this is just the beginning. In an age where speed of delivery is at the forefront of the buyer’s mind, Pio is giving the SMB's a chance to compete with the next day delivery standards like that of an Amazon or a Dicks Sporting Goods.

VP & Head of Pio, Magne Hatteland said; "SMB e-commerce brands face two major challenges in the U.S. – high labour costs and extremely high customer expectations regarding order fulfilment and delivery. Overcoming these two challenges isn't possible without automation,"

To date, Pio's customers have seen a full ROI in less than a year!

To celebrate the US expansion Pio is actually giving away a P100 system, so if you know an SMB that needs or would benefit from this world class automated warehouse system you can enter here.

Hai Robotics has deployed a goods-to-person solution for L'Oréal China's first SMART fulfilment centre

Utilising Hai's goods-to-person solution, Loreal China is elevating flexibility and scalability in their supply chain operations within the region.

The warehouse, a 46,000 square meter facility, located in the Suzhou industrial park is equipped with a variety of robotic solutions including case handling, conveyors and picking stations.

Hai provides ecommerce warehouse solutions aimed at addressing and resolving challenges in fulfilment, processing of returns and reducing errors. Their solutions help ecommerce businesses tackle order influx through high volume buying periods like Black Friday.

Yuqi Richie Chen, Hai's CEO & Founder is said to be "delighted to be a part of L‘Oréal’s warehousing journey by supporting them with our ACR and goods-to-person technology.".

Hai's warehouse solutions have seen efficiency increases of 2.5x.

Yango unveils AI Powered warehouse robotics

Yango is aiming to reduce fulfilment costs across a variety of industries by introducing and debuting Ai-Driven warehouse robotics solutions, set to be unveiled at Seamless Middle East & Saudi Arabia this week.

With an urgent need for effective and efficient logistical solutions within the Middle Eastern online retail sector, which is expected to grow over $35,853m by 2025, these innovations from Yango are critical for retailers to be equipped and prepared for rising demand.

Alexei Filippov, Head of Global Business development for Yango's robotics division, commented on the launch of their new solutions by saying; "As fulfilment costs continue to rise, our warehouse robotics solutions come at a crucial time to help businesses not just survive but thrive".

As a Middle East baby and parents still out there, I can say there is more than enough room for Yango to make this their market. Look for yourself, the sheer amount of people moving to the Middle East naturally increases the demand in the online sector, let alone how busy the shopping malls seem to be getting!

For those that are at Seamless this week, visit Yango, they are located at Booth H2-G36.

Agility Robotics and Manhattan Associates partner for robotics integration

Agility robotics become the first humanoid robotics provider to join Manhattans value partner program. This milestone collaboration project aims to integrate Agility's Mobile Manipulation Robot (MMR) 'Digit' along with the cloud automation platform that manages 'Digit' fleets called Agility Arc, with Manhattans active warehouse management solution.

Digit, powered by advanced AI, is designed to handle logistics tasks and offers an increased adaptability and safety in environments where robots and humans work alongside each other.

CEO of Agility Robotics, Peggy Johnson, added “Digit is already the world’s only bipedal robot currently delivering useful work for customers, increasing productivity and safety while helping workers with difficult and repetitive tasks in warehouse and manufacturing operations."

Anyone else feel like they're living in iRobot? Jokes aside, we know for increased efficiency that robotic solutions like Digit will not replace people but collaborate with them to enhance labour and workflow, ultimately streamlining operations and speeding up processes for increased satisfaction for both the clients and their customers.

I hope you all enjoyed this first edition of Robot Roundup, I will be posting weekly and looking to get input from thought leaders in the industry to add to the Roundup on a variety of topics!

Please don't hesitate to get in touch on any other topics at: [email protected]