Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Berkshire Grey jumps into e-commerce fulfillment robot sector

Massachusetts firm emerges from stealth mode with AI-powered omnichannel operations suite.

Berkshire Grey jumps into e-commerce fulfillment robot sector

Logistics practitioners added one more option to the growing menu of robotic fulfillment solutions on the market this week, when well-funded newcomer Berkshire Grey emerged from stealth mode with a product it says automates omnichannel operations with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled robotics.

Led by veterans of robotics vendors iRobot and Kiva Systems, Lexington, Mass.-based Berkshire Grey says its solutions automatically pick, pack, and sort individual items, inner packs, cases, and parcels for e-commerce and store replenishment orders, achieving higher accuracy and throughput speeds than traditional approaches.


The company intends to help customers such as large players in retail, e-commerce, and logistics apply intelligent automation to handle Amazon.com Inc.'s impact on consumer expectations, since shoppers increasingly expect free shipping and overnight home delivery, Berkshire Grey CEO Tom Wagner said in a blog post.

The company did not provide details on its solutions, but said they were based on AI, computer vision, machine learning, novel sensing, and robotics. A video provided by the company shows an array of capabilities that appear to include mobile robots, stationary robotic picking arms, and suction cup end-effectors for picking eaches.

In a statement, Berkshire Grey said it already has a number of paying customers that rank among the global 100 retailers and household name firms, but declined to disclose their identities. The company plans to announce multiple customers in 2019.

While it continues to build a roster of clients, Berkshire Grey is backed by investment funding from some of the biggest names in logistics technology, including Khosla Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Canaan Partners, and individual investors such as former General Electric Co. honcho Jeff Immelt. NEA also funds logistics startups such as Aera Technology, Clearmetal, Upskill, Transfix, and Convoy.

"Berkshire Grey assembled an amazing team that builds incredible intelligent robotic solutions for world-class customers," Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said in a release. "AI and robotics are revolutionizing supply chains, and Berkshire Grey is at the leading edge of this step change for retailers, e-commerce companies and logistics providers. They are solving real challenges right now with commercial grade technology that is light years ahead of the competition."

Despite its roster of advanced technologies and big-name financial backers, Berkshire Grey is entering a crowded segment that includes established logistics robotic automation providers such as Grey Orange, Locus Robotics, 6 River Systems, Fetch, inVia Robotics, and Geek+.

In a statement, the firm said it has the chops to handle that stiff competition, thanks to an approach to robotic picking that is based on commercial, industrial robots deploying machine learning techniques to achieve fast and precise operations.Those robots also apply a holistic approach that combines individual specialties such as computer vision, sensors, gripping technology, multiple types of robots, machine learning, sophisticated software, and an integration with customers' workflows, Berkshire Grey's vice president of marketing, Peter Blair, said in an email.

The company's solutions include mobile robots working in concert with linear shuttle robots with optimized commercial robot arms. The mobile robots serve inventory and order containers to the robotic pick modules, which are surrounded by existing customer infrastructure such as manual storage, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), or other types of automated conveyance, Blair said.

As Berkshire Grey emerges from stealth mode and competes for a place at the table with other robotic fulfillment providers, its success will depend on its ability to install those systems with minimal disruption to customers' warehouse operations, said John Santagate, research director, Commercial Service Robotics at IDC Manufacturing Insights, an analyst group based in Framingham, Mass.

Despite the potential efficiency gains of advanced automation, implementations can be hampered if they demand "greenfield" installation in brand new facilities or shuttering portions of existing DCs, he said. "The cost, time, and expense of such implementations is what has held many lower tier facilities back and been a driver in adoption for the autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in those same facilities," Santagate said.

Still, the market for robotic fulfillment is growing so fast that it could be flexible enough to add new providers alongside the current vendors. "I believe that the market for e-commerce order fulfillment is rather large, so there is definitely room for new competitors that offer some distinct value add beyond what is already out there from a mobile robot perspective," said Santagate.

The Latest

More Stories

drone flying through warehouse

Robotic revolution

Robots are revolutionizing factories, warehouses, and distribution centers (DCs) around the world, thanks largely to heavy investments in the technology between 2019 and 2021. And although investment has slowed since then, the long-term outlook calls for steady growth over the next four years. According to data from research and consulting firm Interact Analysis, revenues from shipments of industrial robots are forecast to grow nearly 4% per year, on average, between 2024 and 2028 (see Exhibit 1).

market forecast for industrial robots - revenues graphEXHIBIT 1: Market forecast for industrial robots - revenuesInteract Analysis

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Freight Science dashboard screen
Freight Science

High-tech solution helps truckload carrier drive change

The trucking industry faces a range of challenges these days, particularly when it comes to load planning—a resource-intensive task that often results in suboptimal decisions, unnecessary empty miles, late deliveries, and inefficient asset utilization. What’s more, delays in decision-making due to a lack of real-time insights can hinder operational efficiency, making cost management a constant struggle.

Truckload carrier Paper Transport Inc. (PTI) experienced this firsthand when the company sought to expand its over the-road (OTR), intermodal, and brokerage offerings to include dedicated fleet services for high-volume shippers—adding a layer of complexity to the business. The additional personnel required for such a move would be extremely costly, leading PTI to investigate technology solutions that could help close the gap.

Keep ReadingShow less
indigo software screenshot WMS

Aptean adds British WMS vendor in latest acquisition

The Georgia-based enterprise software vendor Aptean today said it had acquired Indigo Software Ltd., a British provider of purpose-built warehouse management and logistics software solutions.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aptean said the move will add new capabilities to its warehouse management and supply chain management offerings for manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and 3PLs. Aptean currently provides enterprise resource planning (ERP), transportation management systems (TMS), and product lifecycle management (PLM) platforms.

Keep ReadingShow less
DHL graphic on online shopping marketplaces

DHL report shows seven factors about American online shoppers

Online merchants should consider seven key factors about American consumers in order to optimize their sales and operations this holiday season, according to a report from DHL eCommerce.

First, many of the most powerful sales platforms are marketplaces. With nearly universal appeal, 99% of U.S. shoppers buy from marketplaces, ranked in popularity from Amazon (92%) to Walmart (68%), eBay (47%), Temu (32%), Etsy (28%), and Shein (21%).

Keep ReadingShow less
schneider app screenshot for owner operators

Schneider seeks more business with owner-operators

Transportation and logistics service provider Schneider National Inc. is reaching out to owner-operators, encouraging them to do more business with the Wisconsin company using an updated digital platform.

Schneider says its FreightPower platform now offers owner-operators significantly more access to Schneider’s range of freight options. That can help drivers to generate revenue and strengthen their business through: increased access to freight, high drop and hook rates of over 95% of loads, and a trip planning feature that calculates road miles.

Keep ReadingShow less