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Coronavirus pandemic causing grocers to invest in robotics, says report

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The coronavirus pandemic is causing grocers to invest more in robotics, according to a study published by the Retail Analytics Council ahead of the Retail Robotics and AI Conference.

The RAC retail robotics research report, Emerging Trends in Retail Robotics, says the Covid-19 outbreak gives grocers an additional reason to use robots in retail – “to assist with customer and employee safety”.

However, the industry was already expanding its use of robots, notes the RAC in its report. [Read more…] about Coronavirus pandemic causing grocers to invest in robotics, says report

Retail giant Gap improves supply chain with Kindred ‘Sort’ robots

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Retail giant Gap says it has improved its supply chain output by implementing robots supplied by Kindred. (See video below.)

The system Kindred has supplied uses industrial robotic arms originally manufactured by Fanuc integrated into a solution called “Sort”.

Gap says that it has been “faced with an unprecedented surge in e-commerce and an extreme workforce disruption” which persuaded it that “now is the time for artificial intelligence and robotics solutions to solve complex fulfillment problems”. [Read more…] about Retail giant Gap improves supply chain with Kindred ‘Sort’ robots

Coronavirus expected to cut industrial robot revenue by more than 8 per cent this year

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By Maya Xiao of Interact Analysis

The coronavirus pandemic which has devastated economies worldwide is expected to reduce revenues in the industrial robot market by more than 8 per cent, according to a study by Interact Analysis.

“After a weak 2019, we originally expected the 2020 robot market to recover strongly, but Covid-19 changed the market revenue growth forecast from 4.8 percent to -3.6 percent,” writes Maya Xiao, automation market expert at Interact Analysis.

Global industrial robot shipments experienced negative growth for four consecutive quarters from mid-2018, she says. At the end of 2019, recovery signs appeared, and the mid-term growth rate turned positive. This turnaround happened in the context of a continued slowdown in general global manufacturing activity, which led to weak spending on machinery and automation equipment. [Read more…] about Coronavirus expected to cut industrial robot revenue by more than 8 per cent this year

inVia Robotics expands into Asia with Kantsu implementation

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Kantsu has selected inVia Robotics, a provider of warehouse automation solutions, to supply autonomous mobile robots that automate fulfillment operations in its primary distribution center in Osaka, Japan.

inVia’s modular automation system, which includes a fleet of 200 autonomous mobile robots and AI-driven software, will modernize Kantsu’s e-commerce fulfillment process.

It will automate the picking process and allow warehouse workers to sort at rates of 800-900 units per hour per person, says inVia. [Read more…] about inVia Robotics expands into Asia with Kantsu implementation

Teradyne begins shipping new mobile memory testing equipment

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Teradyne, the company which owns Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots, has successfully ramped high volume production of its new Magnum EPIC memory tester which provides flexibility to fully cover LPDDR5, DDR5, GDDR6, and future DRAM devices.

These next-generation memories deliver nearly twice the bandwidth of the previous generation to improve the performance of 5G smart phones, data centers, and high definition graphics applications.

Magnum EPIC delivers best-in-class signal integrity enabled by its revolutionary Near-DUT-Test technology. This technology also enables the highest parallelism available in the industry today. [Read more…] about Teradyne begins shipping new mobile memory testing equipment

Present times require clever solutions, digitalisation, and process automation: How Y Soft has implemented robots in its offices

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By Ondřej Krajíček, chief technology strategist at Y Soft

Since the world was turned on its head as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations in all sectors have been forced to transform the way they work, speed up their digital transformation projects and rapidly innovate their processes in a way they’ve never had to previously.

So far, we’ve seen organisations completely repurposing their offering to help in the fight against coronavirus, such as manufacturers producing PPE; we’ve seen staff rapidly reskilled, or even being offered from one industry to another; and we’ve seen organisations using technologies to create innovations in both software and hardware.

At Y Soft, we’ve been using our fleet of 3D Printers to contribute face shields to hospitals around the world, but we’ve also been implementing various innovations internally, to ensure our operations continue seamlessly while we’re not physically in the office. [Read more…] about Present times require clever solutions, digitalisation, and process automation: How Y Soft has implemented robots in its offices

CNC vs Robotics: Which One is Better in the Manufacturing Segment?

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Within the modern manufacturing industry, both CNC machining and robotics are crucial elements of automation.

There is, however, some confusion regarding whether CNC can be considered as a part of robotics itself, or if the preprogrammed machining system deserves a category of its own.

A more important and practical query on the other hand is the simple, comparative question – which technology is better? [Read more…] about CNC vs Robotics: Which One is Better in the Manufacturing Segment?

IAM Robotics wins contract with global health and beauty retailer

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IAM Robotics, makers of autonomous mobile manipulation robots, has won a contract with new client A.S. Watson Group, one of the world’s largest international health and beauty retailers with over 15,700 stores in 25 markets.

A.S. Watson will implement a fleet of Swift robots from IAM Robotics at its Benelux e-commerce fulfillment center in the Netherlands to help solve labour and capacity constraints due to a fast-growing, high-volume health and beauty retail business.

Ed van de Weerd, CEO of A.S. Watson health and beauty Benelux, says: “Our business in e-commerce is growing rapidly, and we need a way to keep up with the growth while offering next-day delivery within our existing fulfillment center, which is important for us to deliver the group’s online and offline strategy. [Read more…] about IAM Robotics wins contract with global health and beauty retailer

MSC Industrial Supply integrates systems from Plus One Robotics at fulfillment centers

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MSC Industrial Supply is integrating Plus One Robotics systems at its fulfillment centers.

MSC is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance repair and operations products and services for industrial customers throughout North America.

The company says the partnership with Plus One Robotics will “support and enhance the efficiency” of its customer fulfillment centers. [Read more…] about MSC Industrial Supply integrates systems from Plus One Robotics at fulfillment centers

Waypoint launches Kingpin lift and hitch top module for its warehouse robots

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Waypoint Robotics has launched a top module that enables the company’s omnidirectional warehouse robots to automatically load and unload payloads and connect to a variety of carts for material movement.

The module is called “Kingpin” and Waypoint says it enables its Vector robot – a 600 lb payload capacity AMR – to do two critical jobs with one simple top module, as opposed to having a dedicated fleet of lift deck robots for automatic load/unload, and another dedicated fleet of cart connecting robots for cart transport.

With Kingpin, Vector can automatically pick up a tote on one side of the factory, deliver it to the other side of the factory, and then connect to a cart on the way back to the starting point. [Read more…] about Waypoint launches Kingpin lift and hitch top module for its warehouse robots