Berkshire Grey, a developer of AI-enabled robotic solutions that automate supply chain processes, launched the next generation of Intelligent Enterprise Robotic (IER) picking and mobility solutions which incorporate a new generation of mobile robots.
This new generation of mobile robots offers increased fulfillment throughput at a lower cost point to enable shorter delivery times and support a larger number of SKUs.
Unlike fixed conveyor belts and early generation mobile robots, Berkshire Grey’s intelligent fleets harness the power of AI to orchestrate tens to thousands of mobile robots to pick, organize, and deliver items for a wide variety of customer and store orders.
The explosive growth of eCommerce over the course of the pandemic has driven retailers, grocers, and third-party logistics (3PL) providers to invest in transforming operations to meet soaring consumer expectations.
Today’s businesses must overcome complex logistical hurdles to fulfill orders for any product in a variety of ways including curbside pickup, buy online pickup in store, and same- or next-day delivery.
As a result, fulfillment leaders seek to handle a wider variety of SKUs with increased throughput using a variety of constructs including back-of-store, small scale distribution centers, and full scale distribution centers.
Kevin Prouty, vice president at IDC, says: “Rapid delivery for virtually any product is now table stakes for fulfillment and the market has not offered powerful solutions to enable most businesses to meet this need.
“Companies like Berkshire Grey that have deep IP can have a large advantage in orchestrating tens to thousands of mobile robots, to pick millions of SKUs, and enable a company to significantly accelerate throughput at an attractive capital expenditure.
“Innovations like these help companies to meet increasing consumer expectations and to do so in a competitive fashion.”
The AI-based orchestration software enables many robots to work together in a performant fashion, where robots improve and learn over time, and where the activities carried out by different robots and modules are coordinated.
With the new generation of mobile robots incorporated in these solutions, Berkshire Grey’s intelligent fleets of mobile robots can:
- Integrate robotic picking with mobile robots to increase automation levels and fulfillment speeds.
- Transform any facility into a high throughput fulfillment system with minimal disruption to existing operations. Facilities can deploy the new robot systems in both existing and new fulfillment centers in one third of the time of legacy systems.
- Handle greater SKU coverage than legacy systems – including heavier items, non-conveyables, and challenging items like shrink-wrapped packages (e.g., dog food bags, glass, water bottle packs).
- Perform faster and more flexibly than traditional approaches – conducting agile any-induct-to-any-discharge organization of goods and incorporating intelligent on-field storage supporting many use cases.
- Dually utilize storage locations as robot highways and handle diverse SKUs directly – the new robots can rotate and adjust positions, pass under shelves and conveyor belts, and function without a tray or tote container – all of which enable speedier throughput and reduced process costs.
Steve Johnson, president and COO, says: “We developed this next generation of IER solutions to achieve higher throughput at lower cost in a third of the deployment time.
“Berkshire Grey’s industrial-grade mobile robots work together at unprecedented scale to deliver a step-change in speed and intelligence for any fulfillment center. Best of all, our software gets smarter over time, speeding efficiencies, while enabling maximum flexibility for businesses to meet rapidly changing consumer demands.”
Berkshire Grey’s automated solutions are dynamically reconfigurable and available via Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) implementation models. RaaS allows customers to accelerate adoption of game-changing automation technology without upfront capital expenditures.
As previously announced, on February 24, 2021, Berkshire Grey entered into a definitive agreement with Revolution Acceleration Acquisition Corp that is expected to result in Berkshire Grey becoming a publicly listed company early in the third quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including approval by the stockholders of Revolution Acceleration Acquisition Corp.
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