Category Archives: Industry News

Emerging Trends in Warehouse Automation

Warehouse RobotsWarehouse automation can help modern businesses run more efficiently, reliably and accurately. It can also help them gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Here are some of the top emerging trends in warehouse automation:

Cobotics

Robots may be able to lift heavier, work longer and skip breaks, but often people are better at decision-making and analysis. Many warehouses are designed to incorporate the best of both worlds by having robots working alongside people to optimize the strengths of each.

Gamification

Turning warehouse tasks into games can provide incentives for employees work more productively with robots. Dashboards and other tools can help employers set up game-like activities and offer prizes to the employee who fills the most orders or completes the most assemblies.

Automatic Guided Vehicles

Automatic guided vehicles, or AGVs, are a major trend in warehouse automation. They use magnets, lasers and/or vison sensors to navigate around warehouse facilities and move items. AGVs can also follow wires or markers in the floor. Amazon currently uses 100,000 such robots to automate picking and packaging in its warehouses.

Packaging and Shelving Design

As more and more companies use AGVs and other robots in their warehouses, packaging and shelving designs have changed to better accommodate the new tools. For example, boxes and bins are being designed to make it easier for robots to move them around freely.

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On West Coast, Port Shutdown is Bad for Business

On West Coast, Port Shutdown is Bad for Business

Over the weekend of February 6, in the wake of tense labor negotiations between shippers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, a number of west coast ports were temporarily closed. The Pacific Maritime Association, who alleges that the port workers’ union has been carrying out a deliberate labor slow-down in order to gain bargaining… Continue Reading