From autonomous forklifts to smart sorting robots, emerging technologies are taking hold throughout the warehouse as logistics services providers seek to boost productivity, improve safety, and respond to labor shortages.
Victoria Kickham started her career as a newspaper reporter in the Boston area before moving into B2B journalism. She has covered manufacturing, distribution and supply chain issues for a variety of publications in the industrial and electronics sectors, and now writes about everything from forklift batteries to omnichannel business trends for DC Velocity.
As logistics services providers struggle with accelerating consumer demand, sluggish supply lines, and labor challenges, many are moving beyond the exploratory phase of automating their warehouses and are putting systems to work. A Gartner survey of more than 500 supply chain professionals bears this out: 96% of respondents polled for its 2020 Gartner Supply Chain Technology User Wants and Needs survey said they had used or plan to use cyber-physical automation in their warehousing and manufacturing operations. These are highly automated, intelligent systems that integrate physical and software components—robotic systems are a good example. Looking ahead, the report suggests nearly every warehouse will be using a robot in some way within the next decade.
Many are already well on their way to achieving that goal. Here’s a look at how a handful of companies are using cyber-physical automation to address efficiency and labor challenges.
AUTONOMOUS FORKLIFTS IN ACTION
Contract logistics specialist DHL Supply Chain is one example of a company moving full-steam ahead to implement cyber-physical solutions. The company started to explore autonomous forklifts for its warehouses about four years ago and is now using them at locations across the U.S. The effort is part of a plan to implement a range of automated warehouse technologies, including various autonomous vehicle solutions, and serves as an example of how the company is putting some of the latest tech to work. Its autonomous high-reach fork trucks are doing 100% of pallet putaway and picking at some locations, controlled by each facility’s warehouse management system (WMS).
“[These are] fully autonomous solutions integrated with our WMS,” explains Brian Gaunt, a senior director who is responsible for innovation and robotics for DHL Supply Chain in North America. The system automates the challenging task of manually running a high-reach fork truck—which requires considerable training to operate safely and effectively. The system is helping to improve productivity while also addressing labor and safety issues, he says.
“In a challenging labor market, you can’t just hire anyone and have them do this task,” Gaunt adds. “We like to think that these systems are also making it safer in that they are taking these more challenging movements and doing them [without human intervention].”
The autonomous forklift project began as a larger testing program designed to address pallet movement in the warehouse. Looking to improve upon that process, company leaders began by investigating a range of solutions and vendors—including, but not limited to, autonomous equipment; determined where they might find the greatest value; tested some solutions; and then rolled out what worked best, where it made the most sense. The autonomous high-reach fork trucks turned out to be a prime solution for a number of locations.
“We really look at our warehouses as a series of use cases that we string together,” Gaunt says, explaining that managers may start with 20 possible use cases for pallet movement, but only end up testing and implementing a portion of them. “That’s the progression. It’s very much an iterative process.”
The autonomous forklift project will soon be rolled out on a larger scale.
“It takes a while to get familiar with [the system]. Now, we’re at a point where we’re comfortable with the handful we have, so we’re in the scaling mode, which is exactly where we want to be,” Gaunt says, adding that DHL plans to implement the forklifts at more locations nationwide.
SMART SORTING ROBOTS
Parcel carrier FedEx Ground is advancing with cyber-physical automation as well, with recent examples in New York, Ohio, and Nevada. Partnering with robotics firm Berkshire Grey, the company has implemented a robotic sortation solution for autonomous package processing—a move that’s in direct response to accelerated e-commerce activity.
The company is using Berkshire Grey’s Robotic Product Sortation and Identification (RPSi) system at a Queens, New York, facility to robotically sort the thousands of small packages that arrive daily in bulk into containers bound for other facilities across the FedEx Ground network. The artificial intelligence (AI)-based system autonomously picks, identifies, sorts, collects, and “containerizes” individual poly bags, tubes, padded mailers, and other small packages that have traditionally been sorted manually. The system requires fewer package handlers to operate, allowing FedEx to reallocate workers to other tasks in the facility. Other benefits include enhanced productivity, efficiency, and safety, as well as greater flexibility to adjust to changing package volumes and sizes, according to Ted Dengel, managing director of operations technology and innovation at FedEx Ground.
The system also addresses the tricky challenge of scanning labels. In traditional package sortation, workers have to position parcels so the label can be scanned properly. Berkshire Grey’s system uses technology that allows bar codes to be read from any angle in milliseconds, without manual intervention, according to Jessica Moran, the company’s senior vice president, parcels and 3PL businesses.
FedEx Ground’s success in Queens has prompted other implementations; the company was testing similar systems at sortation facilities in Columbus, Ohio, and Las Vegas this past fall.
SPEEDY ROBOTIC ASSISTANTS
Accelerating e-commerce was the driver for a similar sortation solution at Greek logistics and transportation services provider Athinaiki, S.A. Working with global autonomous mobile robot (AMR) developer Geek+ Robotics and systems integrator FDL, the company has deployed smart sorting robots in one of its e-commerce fulfillment warehouses, with the ultimate goal of speeding last-mile delivery to customers throughout Greece and Cyprus.
Set in a roughly 6,000-square-foot warehouse, 29 sorting robots help warehouse employees sort 1,400 to 1,500 parcels per hour. Employees put ordered goods onto sorting robots that automatically transfer the parcels to one of 104 sorting cages bound for different destinations. The AMRs travel freely through the warehouse, with no wires or fixed infrastructure, making it easy for Athinaiki to scale up or down to meet throughput demand by adjusting the number of robots and sorting destinations. The robots are controlled by a robot management system (RMS) and powered by algorithms, creating a solution that monitors robot traffic and balances each robot’s tasks to achieve maximum sorting efficiency and accuracy, according to Geek+ Robotics.
THE ROAD AHEAD
It won’t be long before some of the systems in place now will begin “thinking” for themselves. Among Gartner’s picks for top strategic technologies for 2022 are “autonomic” computing systems: self-managing physical or software systems that learn from their environments. As the company described it in a report this past October: “Unlike automated or even autonomous systems, autonomic systems can dynamically modify their own algorithms without an external software update, enabling them to rapidly adapt to new conditions in the field, much like humans can.”
The technology is already being used in complex security systems, Gartner says, and in the longer term will find its way into physical systems such as robots, drones, manufacturing machines, and smart spaces.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
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.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.