{"id":2227,"date":"2019-06-19T15:53:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T20:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev-mhisolutionsmag.officialdirectory.com\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2020-02-28T09:32:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T15:32:01","slug":"flexible-automation-robotics-and-autonomous-vehicles-in-warehousing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/19\/flexible-automation-robotics-and-autonomous-vehicles-in-warehousing\/","title":{"rendered":"Flexible Automation, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles in Warehousing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Flexible Automation, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles in Warehousing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interest in automatic solutions is rising and there\u2019s a perception that this is where the industry is headed. But questions about ROI, applications and integration are slowing down adoption.<\/p>\n

* By Fiona Soltes *<\/em><\/p>\n

Robotics, flexible automation, autonomous vehicles and the like are no longer just something \u201ceveryone else\u201d must be doing. Offerings and awareness have continued to increase, especially as the perceived shortage of qualified and affordable labor continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still fairly early,\u201d said Pat Davison, director of standards and manager of The Robotics Group (TRG) of MHI. \u201cThere\u2019s a perception that this is where the industry is headed. But there is still either trepidation or concern from the user community about ROI, or applicability, or the capital investment it would take to deploy automation solutions. That\u2019s opposed to the current or traditional situation of effectively just hiring more labor to ramp up in capacity, or ramp up due to a holiday season. I think there\u2019s definitely an interest, but the applications available still aren\u2019t widely known or commonly deployed, so there are questions on how best to proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, he said, we\u2019re still not close to \u201clights out\u201d manufacturing with completely automated processes.<\/p>\n

Mike Futch, president of MHI member Tompkins Robotics, said any thought related to where we actually are \u201cdepends on who you ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact of the matter is, it\u2019s progressing very rapidly,\u201d Futch said. \u201cThe increased capabilities of robotic automation and the lowering of costs have created a new tool that we can use in the evolution of supply chain distribution, warehousing and order fulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have been around for decades, Futch said, and many new technologies are building from that platform. The addition of functionalities such as arms and grippers allow them to be used in new and creative ways.<\/p>\n

The majority of robots being deployed in distribution centers today are of the collaborative variety, Futch said, meaning they can interact with humans\u2014but if one of those humans gets into the robot\u2019s arc of motion, the robot will retract. \u201cIf a person stops in front of one of these robots, the robot will stop and go around them,\u201d Futch said. They\u2019re designed to work with people rather than instead of, \u201cand that\u2019s a requirement going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another change he\u2019s seeing is related to the speed of deployment. Systems can roll off a truck and begin operations much faster these days than in the past\u2014especially if integration has been done in advance. It\u2019s also more likely that robotic solutions can be deployed on a small scale and then grown into a fleet as needed, he said.<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flexible Automation, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles in Warehousing Interest in automatic solutions is rising and there\u2019s a perception that this is where the industry is headed. But questions about ROI, applications and integration are slowing down adoption. * By Fiona Soltes * Robotics, flexible automation, autonomous vehicles and the like are no longer just something …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":2158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13],"tags":[424,420,419,416,423,427,50,415,417,421,175,426,422,24,425,418],"class_list":["post-2227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-technology","tag-abb","tag-agvs","tag-automated-guided-vehicles","tag-autonomous","tag-bryan-knott","tag-crystal-a-parrott","tag-dematic","tag-flexible-automation","tag-mike-futch","tag-pat-davidson","tag-robotics","tag-sick","tag-softbank-group-corp","tag-the-robotics-group","tag-tom-bonucchi","tag-tompkins-robotics"],"yoast_head":"\nFlexible Automation, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles in Warehousing - MHI Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/19\/flexible-automation-robotics-and-autonomous-vehicles-in-warehousing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flexible Automation, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles in Warehousing - MHI Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Flexible Automation, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles in Warehousing Interest in automatic solutions is rising and there\u2019s a perception that this is where the industry is headed. 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