Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Gap orders 73 piece-picking robots to meet coronavirus e-commerce surge

Kindred's “Sort” system uses robotic arm to place items into an automated putwall.

kindred piece picking robots

Robotic fulfillment vendor Kindred Inc. says the clothing retailer Gap Inc. has purchased 73 of its automated piece-picking robots in an effort to meet increasing demand for online orders and employee safety due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The deal boosts Gap’s fleet of Kindred bots to 106, following a pilot program launched in 2017 where Gap used Kindred’s “Sort” robotic piece-picking systems for secondary sortation points at its distribution centers in Tennessee, California, and New York.


Kindred’s piece-picking robots use the company’s “AutoGrasp” robotics intelligence platform that identifies and singulates items to pick and place into an automated putwall. According to the company, AutoGrasp combines vision, grasping, and manipulation algorithms to move clothing, poly bags, and other small items. By using artificial intelligence (AI) and human-in-the-loop data methodology, the system continuously improves robot capabilities so that picking becomes smarter, faster, and more accurate over time.

Statistics from the pilot show that Gap used the units to sort more than 13 million units of merchandise in the first quarter of 2020, running at an average sorting speed of 335 units per hour. Once the additional systems are deployed, Gap will have paired Sort robots with all the automated primary sortation systems in its distribution network, the company said.

“We’re pleased that our partnership with Kindred has grown from a test pilot to a full deployment of their Sort robots across our U.S. network – especially at a time when we’re trying to keep our employees safe,” Kevin Kuntz, senior vice president of Global Logistics Fulfillment at Gap, said in a release. “We look forward to working together with Kindred on cutting-edge automation.”

San Francisco-based Kindred has already deployed 20 of the new systems to Gap’s largest-volume distribution center in Columbus, Ohio, and 10 more to a DC near Nashville, Tennessee.

“Applying automation and artificial intelligence-based solutions to e-commerce logistics and fulfillment allows retailers to scale their operations predictability and efficiently,” said Pierre Lamond, Kindred’s chairman of the board and partner at Eclipse Ventures. “Furthermore, as we see in the current crisis, retailers with resilient operations outperform the competition in areas such as customer satisfaction, sales, and margins. We have digitized the commerce side of the retail equation, now we must modernize the rest of the value chain to meet increasing demand.”

The Latest

More Stories

person using AI at a laptop

Gartner: GenAI set to impact procurement processes

Progress in generative AI (GenAI) is poised to impact business procurement processes through advancements in three areas—agentic reasoning, multimodality, and AI agents—according to Gartner Inc.

Those functions will redefine how procurement operates and significantly impact the agendas of chief procurement officers (CPOs). And 72% of procurement leaders are already prioritizing the integration of GenAI into their strategies, thus highlighting the recognition of its potential to drive significant improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, Gartner found in a survey conducted in July, 2024, with 258 global respondents.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Report: SMEs hopeful ahead of holiday peak

Report: SMEs hopeful ahead of holiday peak

Businesses are cautiously optimistic as peak holiday shipping season draws near, with many anticipating year-over-year sales increases as they continue to battle challenging supply chain conditions.

That’s according to the DHL 2024 Peak Season Shipping Survey, released today by express shipping service provider DHL Express U.S. The company surveyed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to gauge their holiday business outlook compared to last year and found that a mix of optimism and “strategic caution” prevail ahead of this year’s peak.

Keep ReadingShow less
retail store tech AI zebra

Retailers plan tech investments to stop theft and loss

Eight in 10 retail associates are concerned about the lack of technology deployed to spot safety threats or criminal activity on the job, according to a report from Zebra Technologies Corp.

That challenge is one of the reasons that fewer shoppers overall are satisfied with their shopping experiences lately, Lincolnshire, Illinois-based Zebra said in its “17th Annual Global Shopper Study.”th Annual Global Shopper Study.” While 85% of shoppers last year were satisfied with both the in-store and online experiences, only 81% in 2024 are satisfied with the in-store experience and just 79% with online shopping.

Keep ReadingShow less
warehouse automation systems

Cimcorp's new CEO sees growth in grocery and tire segments

Logistics automation systems integrator Cimcorp today named company insider Veli-Matti Hakala as its new CEO, saying he will cultivate growth in both the company and its clientele, specifically in the grocery retail and tire plant logistics sectors.

An eight-year veteran of the Georgia company, Hakala will begin his new role on January 1, when the current CEO, Tero Peltomäki, will retire after a long and noteworthy career, continuing as a member of the board of directors, Cimcorp said.

Keep ReadingShow less

Securing the last mile

Although many shoppers will return to physical stores this holiday season, online shopping remains a driving force behind peak-season shipping challenges, especially when it comes to the last mile. Consumers still want fast, free shipping if they can get it—without any delays or disruptions to their holiday deliveries.

One disruptor that gets a lot of headlines this time of year is package theft—committed by so-called “porch pirates.” These are thieves who snatch parcels from front stairs, side porches, and driveways in neighborhoods across the country. The problem adds up to billions of dollars in stolen merchandise each year—not to mention headaches for shippers, parcel delivery companies, and, of course, consumers.

Keep ReadingShow less