A Smarter Type of “Intelligent Automation”? As New Collaborative Robots Start Rolling Out in 3PL Warehouses, People Should Find It Easier to Get Orders Out the Door
The frontline workers at Encore and CTL will be the first to “team” with these cobots using a new picking methodology designed to increase pick efficiency and throughput.
Before you keep scrolling, I want you to take a few minutes to listen to what Kyle Thompson from Encore Fulfillment and Alex O’Dell from CTL Global Solutions are doing right now in their 3PL facilities:
Even if you were watching the robots and the pickers on the screen as I was talking with Kyle and Alex, you might be confused about “what’s new” about this AMR system design or the software it’s using to improve pick efficiency and throughput in their warehouses.
The robots look like typical AMRs and the carts look like lots of other carts, right?
Well, they are, and they aren’t.
First, the AMR system that’s starting to roll out at Encore and CTL is called Zebra Symmetry Fulfillment, and as you’ll see…
1. The carts in these videos are larger than most other AMR-moved carts used in fulfillment operations found in warehouses today. They can handle up to 300% more volume and carry larger items than most other carts.
2. The AMRs detach from the carts at induction and packout. This means the AMR can immediately return to supporting the picking operation without waiting for orders to be unloaded or inducted. All these efficiency improvements result in reducing the total number of robots required by up to 30%.
Second, a completely new picking methodology was applied to how these robots will pick up carts and collaboratively work with pickers. It’s called Team Intelligence, and as explained in this press release, the execution software receives the orders from the warehouse management system (WMS) and intelligently allocates orders to carts, carts to a team and the team of carts to a picker who is directed by wearable computers to intelligently route the robots and pickers. So, instead of having the AMRs and carts follow the picker or swarm a zone for the pickers, this Team Intelligence logic ensures there is always a robot with a picker (and one staged at the next pick), keeping people in motion versus waiting on a robot.
Starting to see why Kyle and his team think the Zebra Symmetry Fulfillment solution is going to increase their picking efficiency by at least 50%?
Makes a strong business case, for sure.
But from my perspective, the icing on the cake – especially if your warehouse footprint, fulfillment operation, or budget is a bit smaller – is that you don’t have to buy enough robots to use as buffers at induction and takeoff since the robot decouples from the cart in these areas. Your fulfillment solution would be right sized for your specific operation and order profiles, and you will not have idle robots (or labor) not driving value during shifts.
By our estimations, this means you can run the same AMR-supported fulfillment operation three different ways – with Team Intelligence, Swarm, and Follow Me logic – and expect to see higher pick ratees with Team Intelligence despite running ~30% fewer robots on the floor.
This new AMR fulfillment solution makes a lot of sense to me, as does the Team Intelligence picking methodology. Our engineers have been working with warehouse operators like Kyle and Alex to design, scale and optimize this next-gen approach to collaborative AMR-assisted picking.
And before you say I’m biased here, know that I spent three decades in this industry, looking at different ways to improve my team’s picking efficiency and unlock more capacity in our wholesale distribution centers. I tested all sorts of automation systems, and my team and I found many that easily and consistently delivered the return on investment (ROI) we were looking for.
However, much like Kyle, Alex, and warehouse operators such as yourself, I struggled to find AMRs that would work well with our people, WMS, fulfillment tempo, physical footprint, and budget. I found a few robot automation options that checked several boxes, but none that checked all the boxes. They were either too expensive, needed too much floorspace, or took too much effort to integrate with our automated systems and human processes to say, “This is perfect. It’s exactly what we needed.”
So, even though we tested other AMRs (because we had the budget and space) and saw some benefits (because we had the space), I suspect this Team Intelligence logic and AMR/wearable/execution software combination might have been a better option for us.
Obviously, it has proved to be the best – and really the only – option for 3PLs and warehouse operators like Kyle and Alex who weren’t “the customer” that traditional swarm and follow me AMR solution providers had in mind when designing their robots and service models.
That’s why I think the takeaway for today was best said by Alex:
“If you've come to the conclusion that AMRs weren't a good fit in the past, I think this is worth a second look.”
You can get a closer “first look” at the Zebra Symmetry Fulfillment solution and Team Intelligence logic in action here.
