Could a robotic warehouse help to streamline supply chains?

How will robotic warehouses look in the future?

In recent months, the logistics industry has seen a staggering increase in the use of robots and automation within warehouse processes. Due to labour shortages and cost increases, companies are searching for ways to increase their productivity and production lines without the huge costs associated. According to Innovation Driven Resilience, around 38% of logistics companies have a working robotic warehouse, and about 23% are planning to incorporate robots and automation within the next 12-24 months.

Robots are already being used in a wide range of logistics, sometimes extensively. For example, robots are now being used to transport goods across continents. In fact, there are even robots that deliver packages directly to people’s doors. However, we can see that this trend will continue over the coming decades.

Over time, robotics will just slowly creep into more and more areas. This is because the complexity of the supply chains makes it di            cult for humans to do everything themselves. As such, we will start seeing more and more use cases where robots perform speci c tasks. These tasks include picking up items off shelves, transporting items around warehouses, and performing repetitive work.

Due to the complex nature of the supply chain, humans will still almost certainly play an important role. There will be plenty of jobs where robots simply cannot replace humans. Instead, they will complement them. Think about it: you wouldn’t want your pizza delivery guy driving a robot car, would you?

A robotic warehouse could increase productivity

Autonomous robots are often seen as the future of many industries, especially the supply chain. This is because they have the potential to reduce operating costs while increasing revenue. Additionally, autonomous robots can help increase overall e              ciency and productivity, reduce error and re-work rates, and improve employee safety. Not to mention, autonomous robots can take on low-value tasks that bore humans so that they can focus on more strategic goals that cannot be automated.

Flexibility is now the key to success in logistics. The ability to be exible and respond quickly is not only important in production but also in logistics. Mobile robots are replacing stationary conveying equipment and transporting goods from one place to another. Mobile robots are also used in logistics for fast picking. Localisation solutions help them move around freely and be where they’re needed most.

Service robots, especially Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV), have seen greater adoption in recent months due to the COVID pandemic and the increasing trend for contactless delivery. These robots are flexible, cost-effective, scalable, and effcient, making them ideal for logistics and delivery purposes.

The challenges of managing a robotic warehouse

Robots are revolutionising many industries today. From manufacturing to logistics, we see how automation is changing our lives. However, one industry that hasn’t seen much progress is warehousing. While warehouses have been around since ancient times, they haven’t changed much over the centuries. They’re still primarily manual processes, requiring many people to pick, pack, and ship products.

But what if you could automate every step of the process? What if you could make sure that everything arrives safely at its destination? And what if it didn’t take up too much space along the way? This is where robotics comes into play.

However, there are still many barriers to overcome before we start seeing fully automated warehouses. For example, most solutions out there require large areas to operate. If you want to use a robot to transport goods throughout a warehouse, you need to provide enough room for it to move around without hitting anything. You also need to give it enough power to lift heavy items.

And while robots might seem like a good idea, they aren’t very effective at picking things up off the ground. There are ways to solve this problem, such as using grippers or suction cups. But even those don’t work well with certain types of items, such as boxes or small parts.

Another challenge is figuring out how to keep track of inventory. Most robots rely on barcodes or RFID tags to identify the objects they’re handling. Unfortunately, neither of these options works well in a warehouse environment. Barcode scanners often fail to read labels properly, and RFID tags can easily fall off or become damaged during shipping.

So far, no solution exists that provides reliable tracking of thousands of different items in real time. Without accurate information about stock levels and locations, robots won’t be able to manage inventory effectively.

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Mango Logistics will continue to put people first

For as long as we can remember, Mango Logistics has developed an efficient solution for the logistics and storage industry. Our teamwork and ethic have always been to support our clients and continue to streamline our approach to the way we work. While there has been some concern in the press about the future of humans in the workplace, Mango Logistics will always make sure that humans, whether they are our staff or clients, are the
priority.

While some automated solutions may be able to work as well as humans, Mango Logistics has set out to make sure that no technology will replace the human touch. We favour a person-first approach, and we hope that the future of the logistics industry with combined robotics only works to support the employees of the industry and the clients it serves. Mango Logistics will continue to put people first.