Four Automation Trends that are Impacting Picking and Packing
According to FANUC, an industrial robotics manufacturer, there are approximately 1.9 jobs per unemployed worker in the United States. Why? Well, e-commerce is still creating strong labor demand across all areas of the supply chain. To add to that, U.S. businesses are reshoring their sourcing to domestic suppliers in hopes of combating the long overseas lead times; all of which means the creation of even more job openings across North America. Pregis attended Automate in Detroit, MI last week, and returned with a wealth of innovation trends that are adding value within the fulfillment centers of so many industries – from third-party logistics to retail. Timely Takeaways from the Event: 1. Picking and packing goes autonomous: The days of workers wearing out the warehouse floor as they transport goods from inventory to the packing area are numbered. Robotics manufacturers, such as Fetch (now owned by Zebra technologies), are now offering automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and automated mobile robots (AMRs) that autonomously transport goods from storage to pack stations. 2. Machine vision & artificial intelligence: Software and hardware capabilities within the optics space are beginning to reach sci-fi levels. 3. [Insert technology] as a service: Software-as-a-service (SaaS) has been around for a while, but now, technology companies are leveraging this business model for varying forms of technology – one of which is robotics. 4. The rise of integration: As businesses increasingly adopt autonomous equipment, internet-of-things (IoT), and warehouse management systems (WMS), integrators are emerging as key partners.