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.
The rise of robotics is one of the fastest-growing trends in logistics, with announcements of warehouses that have invested in robots or autonomous vehicles coming almost weekly. Distribution center managers are now using robotics and advanced automated equipment to solve challenges at every stage of the material handling game.
But how exactly will all these new bots fit into the typical DC? In their rush to forge a robotic link in the supply chain, planners are still trying to predict what sort of buildings and infrastructure they will need to support the complex machines.
A century ago, architects wrestled with a similar issue when the industrial revolution brought widescale changes to residential housing design. Now that most people commute by automobile instead of horseback, modern homes have attached two-car garages instead of hay barns and stables.
So will the warehouses of 2050 look different because they're designed to accommodate squadrons of robots instead of shifts of human workers? (After all, robots don't need restrooms, but they might need extra electrical outlets.) In fact, warehouse design is already evolving to accommodate robots' needs, and experts say that a few simple changes can make all the difference.
THE BIG EMPTY BOX
The easiest way to go robotic is to start from scratch, incorporating any required features like charging stations, Wi-Fi networks, and smooth floors into the design of a brand-new building, says Doug Rabeneck, director in the operations excellence practice at business and technology consulting firm West Monroe Partners. That approach is clearly more expensive than adding robotics to an existing warehouse, but it avoids the challenges of overlaying a new robotic system onto the existing work force and systems.
Despite the expense, that approach was common 20 years ago, when early generations of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) required wire-guided controls buried in cement warehouse floors so the vehicles could follow predetermined routes like streetcars moving through a city, Rabeneck says.
More recent offerings—such as the robots developed by Amazon Robotics, Clearpath Robotics, and Locus Robotics—require less infrastructure, using unobtrusive technologies like "lidar" and vision systems for navigation instead of relying on permanent hardware like wires, magnets, or beacons. Thanks to those advances, companies are finding it easier to add robots to a warehouse, whether the building is new or old.
"Your building just needs to be a big empty box," Rabeneck says. "To retrofit it, you might need a lot of electronics and communications up on the roof, like wireless router boxes, and either a server in one corner of the facility or communications through the cloud. And you'd probably need charging stations for the units."
GETTING ROBOT-READY
In addition to wiring a building with advanced charging and communications systems, several basic details in the design and layout of a facility can affect its readiness to host material handling robots, says Tom Galluzzo, founder and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Iam Robotics.
"The name of the game is optimizing a solution to whatever your goal is, whether that's an each-picking solution or [one where machines] collaborate with the work force," Galluzzo says. But the needs of people aren't always aligned with those of the machines, he says. "For example, people usually like working in a temperature of 70 degrees, whereas robots might want it to be 50 degrees. If you're going to use both manual and robotic solutions, you need a happy medium."
Even interior design can affect the choice of robotics. For instance, people will gladly walk around on carpeting all day, but robots don't like carpets, Galluzzo says.
"We look for pristine, bare, flat concrete floors," says Galluzzo. "We've been in places with hundred-year-old wooden floors and they're really beat up. To drive robots on that would be like driving your car on cobblestones all day long."
The layout of a DC is also important, since most robots need to be insulated from the elements, not operating anywhere near a loading dock where rain or snow could blow in and affect their electronics, he says.
Finally, just as any building has features dedicated to its human workers' needs—such as a soda machine or a break room—a warehouse designed for robots would need its own "amenities." For instance, an automated DC design could call for a reinforced power grid to handle the extra charging stations and a redundant electric generator so the building doesn't shut down every time a storm knocks the power out.
Safety is another crucial consideration in a robotic fulfillment facility. Recent laptop and smartphone recalls have highlighted the potential for lithium-ion batteries to overheat and even spark fires. A lot of robots today use similar lithium-ion battery technology, which not only raises the question of fire safety but also has implications for operations where DC workers are trained to safely handle the lead-acid batteries commonly used in forklifts but not their lithium-ion counterparts.
"Lithium-ion batteries need a little more care and maintenance than lead-acid," Galluzzo says. "Because you have all that energy density [with lithium-ion], you need to be sure you have your safety precautions in line, like fire safety. What it comes down to is that you're storing more energy in a smaller package."
To address that issue and create a safer working environment, engineers are already working on a next generation of batteries designed for long life and safe operation. The new designs use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cHemiätry instead of the current lithium polymer designs, Galluzzo says.
BOOSTING STORAGE DENSITY
Once a warehouse has satisfied those basic design requirements, it might start to look a lot different inside, as the introduction of robots tends to change inventory storage patterns. A warehouse with automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), for instance, can pack more inventory into a given space than one that relies on human pickers, since computer-guided retrieval vehicles can easily navigate aisles with just an inch or two of clearance, Rabeneck says.
Similarly, many goods-to-person robotic systems allow for higher-density storage than a warehouse that has to leave aisles between racks for human pickers or forklifts. But some of that advantage is lost if the bots also need a dedicated staging area to place racks of products, which can be the case in operations that use robots to deliver racks of products to a human picker for selection, says Bruce Welty, chairman and founder of warehouse automation vendor Locus Robotics Inc. and fulfillment specialist Quiet Logistics Inc. One way around that problem is to adopt a different goods-to-person strategy, using mobile robots to collect only the items needed for orders—as opposed to entire racks—and deliver them to humans at packing stations, Welty says.
Future developments in robotic technologies will doubtless continue to influence warehouse design in terms of the patterns of inventory storage, the flow of goods between work stations, and the interactions between robots and human associates.
THE ECONOMICS OF ROBOTICS
Likewise, the rise of robotics could affect the actual shape of the warehouse. For instance, a company planning to deploy rolling robots like AGVs might seek a vast one-story building, while a company planning to use robotic cranes might want a facility with extra vertical space.
When it goes to automate a facility, UPS Inc. considers each building's space, capacity, volume, and velocity of throughput, says Frank Perez, vice president of industrial engineering at UPS Global Logistics & Distribution. "Automation is a significant capital investment," Perez says. "If you're considering automation with a longer ROI [return on investment], you need to have a good growth strategy. When we evaluate real estate, if a DC is landlocked, it's a great opportunity to use automation to drive density and efficiency within the existing footprint."
If a plan calls for increasing density by creating more vertical storage, the company would choose a robotic solution such as an AS/RS, goods-to-person system, or cranes, as opposed to AGVs that are designed to roll across wide, flat spaces, he says.
Those considerations may sound pedestrian compared with the leading-edge technology that makes a robot tick, but the need to stay profitable carries a lot of weight when it comes to choosing the best type of automated material handling equipment for a facility and picking the best facility to fit the robot.
"We have just begun to scratch the surface as an industry," Iam Robotics' Galluzzo says. The same could be said about the logistics industry's evolution to include advanced robotics in buildings originally designed for people and goods.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.
Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.
The second reason for higher rates was an ocean-to-air shift in freight volumes due to Red Sea disruptions and e-commerce demand.
Those factors could soon be amplified as e-commerce shows continued strong growth approaching the hotly anticipated winter peak season. E-commerce and low-value goods exports from China in the first seven months of 2024 increased 30% year-on-year, including shipments to Europe and the US rising 38% and 30% growth respectively, Xeneta said.
“Typically, air cargo market performance in August tends to follow the July trend. But another month of double-digit demand growth and the strongest rate growths of the year means there was definitely no summer slack season in 2024,” Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said in a release.
“Rates we saw bottoming out in late July started picking up again in mid-August. This is too short a period to call a season. This has been a busy summer, and now we’re at the threshold of Q4, it will be interesting to see what will happen and if all the anticipation of a red-hot peak season materializes,” van de Wouw said.
The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.
That information comes from the “2024 Labor Day Report” released by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.
“We continue to see a labor shortage and an urgent need to upskill the current workforce to adapt to the new world of work,” said Michael Lotito, Littler shareholder and co-chair of WPI. “As corporate executives and business leaders look to the future, they are focused on realizing the many benefits of AI to streamline operations and guide strategic decision-making, while cultivating a talent pipeline that can support this growth.”
But while the need is clear, solutions may be complicated by public policy changes such as the upcoming U.S. general election and the proliferation of employment-related legislation at the state and local levels amid Congressional gridlock.
“We are heading into a contentious election that has already proven to be unpredictable and is poised to create even more uncertainty for employers, no matter the outcome,” Shannon Meade, WPI’s executive director, said in a release. “At the same time, the growing patchwork of state and local requirements across the U.S. is exacerbating compliance challenges for companies. That, coupled with looming changes following several Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to upend rulemaking, gives C-suite executives much to contend with in planning their workforce-related strategies.”
Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.
Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.
Stax has rapidly grown since its launch in the first quarter of this year, supported in part by a $40 million funding round from investors, announced in July. It now holds exclusive service agreements at California ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland. The firm has also partnered with individual companies like NYK Line, Hyundai GLOVIS, Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), and now Toyota.
Stax says it offers an alternative to shore power with land- and barge-based, mobile emissions capture and control technology for shipping terminal and fleet operators without the need for retrofits.
In the case of this latest deal, the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center imports about 200,000 vehicles each year on ro-ro vessels. Stax will keep those ships green with its flexible exhaust capture system, which attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Over the lifetime of this new agreement with Toyota, Stax estimated the service will account for approximately 3,700 hours and more than 47 tons of emissions controlled.
“We set out to provide an emissions capture and control solution that was reliable, easily accessible, and cost-effective. As we begin to service Toyota, we’re confident that we can meet the needs of the full breadth of the maritime industry, furthering our impact on the local air quality, public health, and environment,” Mike Walker, CEO of Stax, said in a release. “Continuing to establish strong partnerships will help build momentum for and trust in our technology as we expand beyond the state of California.”