Smart Storage: The Race of Logistics Robots

Optimizing warehouse logistics is a core business activity for most companies, not just in the mail-order sector – and at the same time, it's usually one of their biggest cost drivers. Due to its complexity, improvements in this area are among the most difficult and often most expensive tasks companies face. To streamline processes for efficiency, warehouse automation using automated material flow and conveyor systems, where goods are stored in state-of-the-art racking systems, is one option.

But how does the merchandise get from there to the pick station?

Often, warehouse workers are deployed at this point, sent out with mobile scanners to collect items for order picking. This solution, in addition to high personnel costs, has limitations regarding time flexibility (keyword: 24/7 order picking) and, despite the use of state-of-the-art scanner technology, disadvantages in picking accuracy.

Intralogistics providers have also developed solutions to increase picking rates and thus order picking speed. For example, they are implementing horizontal carousel storage systems for shipping logistics. These systems transport the required items directly to the picking location. The automated delivery of products to the workstation allows employees to concentrate on other tasks, such as packing goods, which already leads to greater speed and accuracy. Furthermore, warehouse employees are spared the time-consuming process of retrieving items from scattered locations, which reduces walking distances and also improves workplace ergonomics.

Of course, technological development doesn't stop there, but progresses continuously. Several systems are already on the market that enable dynamic warehousing and order picking using autonomous small robot systems that perform the necessary tasks in a resource-efficient manner.

Kiva Robotics – the pioneer

A pioneer in this field is the US company Kiva, founded in 2003, which quickly attracted attention in the US logistics industry due to its groundbreaking innovation. Their system dispensed entirely with conveyor belts, automated high-bay warehouses, or novel transport carts, instead focusing on small, autonomous robots that rolled through the warehouse, picking up small shelves at each location and transporting them to the packing stations. After the items were removed, the shelves automatically returned to their original positions, and the robot then moved on to its next destination.

Instead of sending out warehouse workers with their pick lists or mobile scanners, this task was taken over by the small, orange robot, which used its integrated lifting mechanism to transport the entire (small) shelf containing the required goods. Instead of picking up individual items, the entire shelf was simply lifted and moved to the appropriate location. Thus, the warehouse is virtually in constant motion, while the warehouse workers stationed at the picking stations are only responsible for retrieving the required products from the delivered shelves.

As with all electronically controlled warehouse logistics systems, the key lies in the software of the overall system, which guides the robots to the right place at the right time. It is clearly no easy task to avoid potential bottlenecks when using hundreds of robots in warehouses that can hold up to several thousand shelves. And it is precisely this almost unlimited scalability and flexibility that makes this system so attractive to users.

Besides sufficient electricity and investment in suitable robots, shelving, and level surfaces, the Kiva solution requires hardly any further prerequisites. On the contrary, it eliminates numerous factors that are indispensable when employing warehouse workers today. For example, the storage areas do not need to be illuminated or heated, as the robot operates even in complete darkness and far below any temperature prescribed by labor laws. Except for picking and packing, human labor is no longer necessary; this is tantamount to reducing the physical limitations solely to the robot's battery life. Legally mandated working hours and breaks, as well as factors such as fatigue or distractions, are hardly noticeable during the storage process. According to Kiva , the system increases the productivity of warehouse employees three to four times.

All these advantages are certainly one reason why the Kiva system is already in use at many of the top US online retailers. For one of them, by far the largest – Amazon – the business concept was so interesting that it acquired the company in 2012, shortly after the technology was introduced to the German market.

Following the acquisition of Kiva, Amazon has significantly ramped up production, as its own robot requirements alone – an estimated 18,000 units for Amazon's global warehouses – are roughly three times higher than the company's total production since its founding. Sales of the system to interested third parties will therefore have to be put on hold for the time being.

And what's happening in Germany?

Meanwhile, a number of German machine manufacturers are also working on a comparable solution. One of the pioneers here is the company Grenzebach, which claims that its newly developed G-Com system can reduce order picking effort by up to 70 percent.

The G-Com solution from the Bavarian mechanical engineering company also relies on mobile, agile robots – the so-called Carrys – that maneuver autonomously through the warehouse. Since the small robots' motors are charged inductively, they can operate continuously, eliminating downtime at charging stations. Controlled by software developed by Grenzebach, the Carrys drive to the designated shelves, lift them, and move the goods to the ergonomically and flexibly configurable picking stations, where warehouse workers retrieve the items and prepare them for shipment. The shelves themselves are designed with complete flexibility in their layout, allowing them to store items of varying dimensions and weights. Consequently, they are ideally suited for storing heterogeneous products and for suppliers with a broad product range.

But automation also offers other advantages: While warehouse workers in conventional systems often have to cover 15 or even 18 kilometers a day, robotic solutions allow them to remain stationary at the picking stations without significant physical strain, thus drastically reducing employee travel time. According to Grenzebach , picking time is reduced by approximately 55% compared to conventional solutions. An additional 15% of orientation and search time on the shelves is eliminated, resulting in a 70% increase in efficiency. Since only the actual picking and storage of items is handled manually, personnel costs are significantly reduced. Furthermore, the simplified processes reduce employee training time to just one or two days.

With G-Com, the storage area no longer needs to be illuminated, ventilated, or heated. Only the picking station area needs to meet legal requirements; this typically only affects about 10% of the total storage area and consequently leads to significant energy savings.

No induction loops are required to control the Carrys, which makes the application extremely flexible and should also make relocations of the storage systems cost-effective and uncomplicated.

German plant engineering company Eisenmann is competing with Kiva and G-Com with its Logimover, a lightweight, double-skid-based industrial truck weighing just 60 kg. Equipped with a powerful lithium-ion battery system, this driverless and extremely maneuverable vehicle transports loads of up to one ton in confined spaces at a speed of one meter per second, thus helping to optimize processes in transport and warehouse logistics. The robotic vehicle consists of two parallel skids that autonomously maneuver under standard pallets, lift them, and transport them to a defined destination using an optical guidance system. Sophisticated software synchronizes the two independent skids, monitoring and controlling the vehicle's entire path.

According to the company, the Logimover is suitable for a wide range of intralogistics tasks, from supplying materials to machines and storing and retrieving goods of all kinds to complex order picking. The Logimover's skid-based design and innovative control and drive system are now protected by patents in Europe.

Neobotix took things a step further : At Automatica 2014, the company presented the MT-400, another autonomous mobile robot designed as a cost-effective, highly flexible transport system. Thanks to its compact design, the MT-400 can navigate even very narrow aisles, where neither floor markings nor other installations are necessary for orientation. Instead, the navigation system relies on information from an integrated laser scanner, enabling the robot to independently avoid obstacles and react to unforeseen situations.

A self-controlling, thinking warehouse robot? From here, the step to an autonomously operating overall solution that will eventually make the use of humans in the warehouse completely superfluous seems not far.

Logistics robots? Who needs those?

Despite their individual differences, the systems from Kiva and the German providers are specifically designed to meet the needs of the rapidly growing e-commerce and multi-channel market due to their high level of automation and flexibility.

The main reasons for this are:

Optimal handling of wide product ranges

Due to their flexible and scalable design, these mobile units are primarily suited for warehouses and order picking operations that assemble a wide variety of shipments from a broad product range. Therefore, they are ideally suited for logistics solutions offered by mail-order and multi-channel retailers, as well as fulfillment service providers active in the e-commerce sector. Here, they can leverage their efficiency advantages and meet the ever-increasing demands of retailers for ever-shorter delivery times and sustained cost reductions.

Flexible deployment

With the systems presented, virtually any item can be stored, provided it does not exceed the maximum dimensions of its chassis. The shelves can also be equipped with bins, drawers, hanging rails, etc., as needed, thus adapting flexibly to product range requirements. This helps to utilize available storage space more effectively, as any area can be used as a storage space for the mobile shelves. Due to their minimal technical installation requirements, seamless integration into existing warehouse buildings is possible.

Fast deployment times

The immediate availability of goods at the picking station reduces order processing time to just a few minutes. This time advantage addresses the increasingly demanded extremely fast delivery – keywords being next-day and same-day delivery .

Conclusion

Of course, there are still limits to the use of these small helpers . Fast-moving items will likely continue to be stored most efficiently on pallets within easy reach of the picking stations. Operating state-of-the-art storage lift systems, high-bay racking, and carousel racking, or transporting very heavy or bulky goods, is also something Kiva & Co. cannot yet handle. Therefore, in the medium term, hybrid solutions will be the most suitable, where the different systems operate side-by-side and complement each other. However, even now, these devices can make a significant contribution to substantially increasing the efficiency of warehouse logistics.