Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

holiday

Getting your warehouse holiday-ready: How technology can help you ride the tide during the busiest time of the year

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By Pieter Feenstra is the CEO of Addverb Technologies’ EMEA region

The holiday season is right around the corner and hype is in the air. With customers in their deal-hunting mode getting ready to score the best deals, and businesses offering competitive discounts for limited periods to trigger a sense of urgency, it sure is the busiest time of the year.

Customers are starting their holiday shopping earlier than usual this year to spread their spending across more paychecks to minimise financial strain.

This also means that those who facilitate the smooth running of operations during this peak season are under considerable pressure to meet growing demands, largely propelled by e-commerce sales. [Read more…] about Getting your warehouse holiday-ready: How technology can help you ride the tide during the busiest time of the year

Baidu launches ‘world’s first’ multi-modal autonomous driving mobility-as-a-service platform

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Baidu, a driverless car developer and China’s equivalent of Google, has launched a multi-modal autonomous driving mobility as a service (MaaS) platform that will provide AI-driven city transportation services in Guangzhou, a city a hundred miles north-west of Hong Kong.

Utilizing a fleet of Apollo Robotaxis and Robobuses along with three other model types of autonomous vehicles, this initiative will allow local users to order smart transport services on demand, starting in the Chinese New Year holiday period.

The implementation of both Baidu Apollo and the ACE Transportation Engine is a testament to the promising commercialization prospects of smart transportation in the intelligent era. [Read more…] about Baidu launches ‘world’s first’ multi-modal autonomous driving mobility-as-a-service platform

Locus Robotics picks ‘record-breaking’ 13 million units during 2019 holiday period

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Locus Robotics has broken its own record in terms of productivity numbers in November 2019. (See infographic below.)

The warehouse robot maker delivered more than 13 million units picked on behalf of global retail and third party logistics partners during the critical holiday season.

Locus says this is a 400 per cent increase in units picked over last year. [Read more…] about Locus Robotics picks ‘record-breaking’ 13 million units during 2019 holiday period

Can robots save the e-commerce holiday season?

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It’s getting close to Christmas and that means it’s time for e-commerce fulfillment managers to start getting worried about the availability of labor for the holiday season.

According to a recent article in Supply Chain Dive, “this year’s peak season promises additional challenges in recruiting new hires as the pool of available labor shrinks”.

As the article points out, the US unemployment rate hit a 50-year low in September 2019. [Read more…] about Can robots save the e-commerce holiday season?

ABB robots ring in the holiday season at Bloomingdale’s iconic New York flagship store

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A dozen ABB robots were on hand this week to ring in the holiday season at Bloomingdale’s iconic New York flagship store. (See video below.)

Described by ABB as the “next step in human robot collaboration”, the robots were seen trimming trees, and entertaining shoppers with holiday tunes and karaoke.

Helping New York celebrate the festive season, the 12 ABB robots are interacting with visitors to Bloomingdale’s iconic holiday celebration at their 59th Street flagship store. [Read more…] about ABB robots ring in the holiday season at Bloomingdale’s iconic New York flagship store

Augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and smart glasses: ‘VIEW’ technology for the 2019 holiday season

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By Seth Patin, founder and CEO, LogistiVIEW

Warehouse workers can be faster, safer, and more accurate this holiday season.

LogistiVIEW’s “Visual Input Enabled Wearable” (VIEW) technology improves workforce productivity and job satisfaction by making processes hands free and eyes focused.

Intuitive voice and visual instructions make work easy and training rapid. These benefits can all be accomplished in time for the 2019 holiday season thanks to LogistiVIEW’s Connected Worker Platform. [Read more…] about Augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and smart glasses: ‘VIEW’ technology for the 2019 holiday season

Consumer demand, and the demanding consumer, for the holidays

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By Thomas R. Cutler

Consumer spending trends suggest this holiday season for retailers and logistics companies will drive an improvement of 15 per cent year-over-year.

With retail sales in the US expanded 0.8 per cent in October after a strong 1 per cent gain in September, the Wall Street Journal’s Josh Mitchell reported, in the best two-month stretch of sales in at least two years.

The brisk spending is a strong sign that the economy is picking up steam, with both wages and employment rising. The expansion, mostly e-commerce, proves that once again online sales are growing at triple the rate of overall retail sales.  [Read more…] about Consumer demand, and the demanding consumer, for the holidays