How Automated Micro-Fulfillment At The Retail Store Enhances Customer Service
While the retail headlines of 2020 were dominated by unprecedented growth in e-commerce, 2021 has marked the return of the brick-and-mortar store shopper. According to research from The NPD Group, “In 2020, total discretionary retail sales grew 9%; the e-commerce ...
6 Ways To Build A More Resilient Supply Chain
As it turns out, supply chain disruptions may be the biggest global shift in the post-COVID-19 “new normal.” After all, what business or consumer hasn’t been affected in some way by retail stockouts of essential items, the national labor shortage, ...
Retailers Adapt Traditional Footprint To Accommodate Curbside Pickup
U.S. consumers spent more than $861 billion online in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, according to Digital Commerce 360. That represents a 44% year-over-year jump and the highest annual U.S. e-commerce growth in 20 years. Part of that growth ...
Safety And Speed: Latest Conveyor And Sorter Features Deliver Both
Two decades ago, high-speed conveyors and sortation equipment were running at 50 feet per minute. Today? Try nearly 700 feet per minute in certain applications. And while that high rate of speed translates into faster movement and sorting of the ...
E-Grocery Growing Pains? How Automation Provides A Cure
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and spread globally, tens of millions of U.S. consumers tried online grocery shoppers for the first time — and liked it. According to eMarketer, “Online grocery sales grew 54.0% in 2020 to reach ...
Beyond The Robot: Keys For A Successful Robotic Implementation
Investing in and implementing a collaborative robot (or “cobot”) solution — whether that be autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automatic guided vehicles (AGVs), or robotic arms — is not a unilateral undertaking. Rather, to ensure the success of the installation, there ...
Automated Storage Systems And Cold Chain Distribution: The COVID Effect
When the coronavirus pandemic reached U.S. shores in January 2020 and a large percentage of the country found itself sheltering in place over the subsequent months, consumers rapidly shifted to online shopping. Among the industries most impacted, the food and ...
Mobile Autonomous Vehicles: Comparing On-Premise To Cloud-Based Hosting Options
When investing in a mobile autonomous vehicle (MAV) system — such as a fleet of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) — warehouse operators increasingly have the choice of hosting the fleet management, monitoring, analytics, and control ...
Key Considerations When Transitioning From Bulk To Singulated Parcel Flow
With the exponential growth in e-commerce and direct-to-consumer parcel shipments, more carriers’ shipping and handling facilities are assessing a change in their current conveyance and sortation equipment and processes. Making the shift from bulk parcel flow (an unorganized mix of ...
Think Robotics Is Out Of Reach For Small And Mid-Sized ...
As more consumers turn to online shopping, they’re also expecting more variety in the types of merchandise available. Thanks to the “Amazon effect,” customers also expect shorter delivery times, fast order fulfillment, and consistent product availability as they shop for ...