Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Mega-retailer Amazon says its newest fulfillment center, located in Shreveport, Louisiana, uses 10 times more robots than previous warehouse designs, and relies on artificial intelligence (AI) to direct the eight different models deployed in its bustling operation.
“Over the years, we’ve built and scaled the world’s largest fleet of industrial robotics that ease tasks for employees and improve operational safety while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs along the way,” the company said in a blog post Wednesday. “For the first time, we have introduced technology solutions in all key production areas at the site, meaning our employees will work alongside our growing fleet of robotic systems seamlessly in a way that wasn’t possible until now.”
The Shreveport site spans five floors and more than 3 million square feet—equivalent to 55 football fields—making it one of Amazon's largest sites. It will employ 2,500 employees once it’s fully ramped up.
The technology at the center of the huge building is called Sequoia, a “multilevel containerized inventory system” that can hold more than 30 million items, making it five times bigger than Amazon’s first deployment of that system in Houston, Texas.
As inventory and packages move through the facility, Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow—an AI-powered trio of robotic arms—sort, stack, and consolidate millions of items and customer orders. The latest version of Sparrow uses computer vision and AI systems that give it the versatility to handle over 200 million unique products of all different shapes, sizes, and weights.
And Proteus, which Amazon calls its “first fully autonomous mobile robot,” navigates carts of packages to the site’s outbound dock so they can be loaded into trucks, while safely moving around employees in open spaces. The remaining three robot models include larger AMRs called Hercules and Titan and a packaging automation system that creates custom-sized packages to fit each order’s dimensions.
Although the increased automation allows the facility to handle more orders than older sites, Amazon insists it is not replacing workers’ jobs. “As we deploy this new generation of robotics across our network, we expect our headcount to continue to grow and we’re really excited by how this technology also creates more opportunities for skilled jobs. In fact, our next-generation fulfillment centers and sites with advanced robotics will require 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance, and engineering roles,” the company said.
According to Amazon, it trains workers for skilled jobs by helping them earn certifications through a corporate “Career Choice program” and a “mechatronics and robotics apprenticeship” that provides hourly wages up to 40% higher than entry-level roles.
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
“Unrelenting labor shortages and wage inflation, accompanied by increasing consumer demand, are driving rapid market adoption of autonomous technologies in manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics,” Seegrid CEO and President Joe Pajer said in a release. “This is particularly true in the area of palletized material flows; areas that are addressed by Seegrid’s autonomous tow tractors and lift trucks. This segment of the market is just now ‘coming into its own,’ and Seegrid is a clear leader.”
According to Pajer, Seegrid’s strength in the sector is due to several new technologies it has released in the past six months. They include: Sliding Scale Autonomy, which provides both flexibility and predictability in autonomous navigation and manipulation; Enhanced Pallet and Payload Detection, which enables reliable recognition and manipulation of a broad range of payloads; and the planned launch of its CR1 autonomous lift truck model later this year.
Seegrid’s CR1 unit offers a 15-foot lift height, 4,000-pound load capacity, and a top speed of 5 mph. In comparison, its existing autonomous lift truck model, the RS1, supports six-foot lift height, 3,500 pound capacity, and the same top speed.
The “series D” investment round was funded by existing lead investors Giant Eagle Incorporated and G2 Venture Partners, as well as smaller investments from other existing shareholders.
According to the WPGA, CARB overstepped in setting the new framework, and has violated both the state’s constitution and various state laws, including the Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Administrative Procedures Act (APA), and Health and Safety Code (HSC). Specifically, the lawsuit says the new rule violates CEQA by failing to consider the environmental impacts from new infrastructure construction to meet the mandate, increased use of diesel generators to charge battery forklifts, leakage of emissions, and new peaking electricity demands and associated emissions.
CARB did not respond to a request for comment, and had no response to the lawsuit posted on its website.
In a statement, the WPGA said it hopes CARB and the state of California may yet come to the negotiating table with industry groups to find a more equitable solution. According to the organization, propane fuel is a clean, safe, and efficient power source that is already helping California transition away from diesel fuel-burning forklifts in sectors such as construction, agricultural, goods movement, and retail.
“We are disappointed that our repeated good faith efforts to find a pathway forward that simultaneously protected consumers and businesses while achieving CARB’s stated goals were rejected,” Colin Sueyres, president & CEO of WPGA, said in a release. “Instead, our industry and those who use our fuel have no choice but to challenge CARB in court for their blatant violations of state law and the state Constitution.”
The Illinois-based automation solutions provider Duravant has acquired T-TEK Material Handling LLC, a manufacturer of high-speed packaging machinery and systems solutions headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.
T-TEK makes end-of-line equipment including palletizers, depalletizers, conveyors, and custom automated lines for producers of packaged food, beverage, and consumer products.
Duravant called the move a strategic acquisition that will expand its reach in the growing packaged food and beverage sector. T-TEK’s portfolio complements Duravant’s product offering across its nVenia, Mespack, and Wulftec brands, all members of Duravant’s packaging segment.
“T-TEK’s technology and equipment offering aligns perfectly with palletizing solutions offered by nVenia,” David Malinas, chief operating officer for Duravant, said in a release. “We now have a complete, comprehensive solution set for all palletizing applications. And with adjacent load containment solutions offered through Wulftec’s premier stretch wrapping and strapping technologies, customers have a trusted source for all their end-of-line packaging needs.”