Warehousing And Distribution 1
How Amazon Started the Robotic Arms Race
If you were to enter an Amazon warehouse, it is whirlwind of activity. You will come across workers everywhere piling items onto large black and yellow crates. Tall hydraulic arms haul heavy boxes to place them on rafters. What you may also see are a mass of chunky orange robots sliding along the floor, also stacked with boxes brimming with fashion to sports gear.
These are the very well-known Kiva robots, who once were an innovation that promised big things for the automation of inventory management. Amazon purchased their robot armies for w hopping $775 million in 2012. The acquisition elevated Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos to the head of an entire industry. He chose to reserve his robotics forces for the sole use of Amazon, effectively stopping Kiva from selling their products to warehouse operators and retailers who used this technology for speedy warehousing and distribution.
Since Kiva was the only player on the market, they were left with no choice. In the present environment, a few startups are gearing up to take off where Kiva left and arm warehouses around the world with new robotics. Amazon’s bots has already proved that robotic technology is indeed a better solution for the supply chain.
However, the new bots that are available look different, this could be attributed to the fact that it is still a nascent industry and partially due to patents. These bots can perform a wide variety of tasks like using mechanical claws to life items off shelves while others have touch screens for automated inventory checks. IAM Robotics’ Swift has been making waves. It is an autonomous mobile picking robot which comes equipped with a 3D item scanner and SwiftLink fleet management software.
Nevertheless, all of these bots are to aimed at fulfilling orders and to get your deliveries to your doorstep easy and quick.
