SMART
WAREHOUSES
interactive than previous
generations of robots.”
As well as using robots,
XPO is testing new software.
For example, the company is
trialling a yard management
app that helps employees
to interact with vehicles. It
enables human workers to
understand where the vehicles
are, and what they’re doing, at
all times. Another interactive
app under assessment is
designed to make life easier for
the multi-skilled employees
of the future. “They will
have to work in numerous
parts of the factory and the
employee app will direct
them to where the workflow
is so they don’t have to be
told where to go, or shown
what to do. The app also
allows workers to choose shift
patterns and communicate
their availability. This type
of technology will make our
warehouses more attractive
places to work,” Williams
adds.
The Nestlé warehouse
will deploy drones that are
undergoing trials at an XPO
facility in France. Although
the new warehouse will
lie close to East Midlands
airport, there will be no
danger of contravening drone
regulations. They will be used
inside the warehouse to assist
with stock checking items
stacked in high bays. The
drones will be able to scan
the pallet labels high on the
racks more quickly and more
accurately than human beings.
Williams says that they will
also be useful for executing
repair and maintenance tasks
in the automation area, where
cranes are often required.
One of the most advanced
warehouse AMRs is IAM’s
Swift robot, which can carry
out picking and packing
jobs independently for an
indefinite period. IAM claims
that the Swift is the only
warehouse robot capable
of working unassisted 24
hours a day. The Swift also
benefits from machine
learning techniques. Data
from the swarms of fleet
robots is analysed, leading
to improvements in both
route planning and picking
strategies.
Shaping the future
Augmented Reality (AR) is
another technology becoming
far more common in cargo
warehouses, including the
new XPO Nestlé facility.
Workers see the real-world
environment, but at the same
time can view a display on
a wearable device, usually
oversized goggles. The wi-fi
connected AR glasses project
instructions about the best
possible route, or which items
need to be picked. The systems
(Readers might like to know that the word “robot” derives
from the Czech language, where it originally meant one who
is forced to perform dull, repetitive work).
are also able to scan barcodes
and totes. According to DHL,
the use of AR glasses has
helped its workers at a Ricoh
facility in the Netherlands
process orders 25% more
efficiently.
The need to adopt
robots, and other advanced
technologies, in warehouses
has partly been driven by
the e-commerce explosion.
Retailers are competing on
speed of delivery as much
as quality. But XPO’s Gavin
Williams believes that
technology is essential to
making improvements in
any type of cargo warehouse.
“The future distribution
centres will all be tech-based.
Embracing new technologies
in warehouses is critical for
the future of supply chains.
The ultimate tests of the
technology being trialled at
the new Nestlé site will be
whether it enhances safety and
improves productivity,” he
concludes.
For the moment at least, robots will co-exist
with human beings in distribution centres
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