Types of Warehouse Automation

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Suitability:  

• Dense cubic utilization of high volume pallet movement

Characteristics

• Pallet In / Out
• Mature Technology
• High Investment
• Moderate Speed
• 60’+ tall buildings
• Low Flexibility 

Sample Suppliers

• Daifuku
• Dambach-Lagersysteme
• Frazier
• Interlake Mecalux
• Swisslog
• System Logistics

Suitability:  

• Case picking slow to moderate volume SKUs
• Moderate throughput capacity
• Case buffering and order sequencing

Characteristics

• Case In / Out
• Mature Technology
• Moderate Investment
• Moderate Speed
• Low Flexibility

Sample Suppliers  

• Daifuku
• Dambach-Lagersysteme
• Dematic (KION)
• Interlake Mecalux
• System Logistics
• Swisslog

Suitability:    

• Each or case picking slow to moderate volume SKUs
• High throughput capacity
• Case buffering and order sequencing

Characteristics

• Case In / Out  
• Bin Replenished / Bin to Workstation for Each Picking
• Maturing Technology
• High Investment
• High Speed 
• Limited Flexibility

Sample Suppliers  

• Daifuku
• Dematic (KION)
• Knapp
• SSI Schaefer
• Swisslog
• TGW
• Vanderlande

Suitability:

• Each picking slow to moderate volume SKU
• Dense cubic space utilization

Characteristics

• Bin Replenished / Bin to Workstation for Each Picking
• Emerging to Maturing Technologies
• Moderate Investment
• Moderate to High Speed 
• Scalable
• Moderate Flexibility  

Sample Suppliers

• Attabotics
• AutoStore
• Exotec
• Intellistore
• Ocado
• OPEX  
• Urbx

Suitability:  

• Each picking small, slow volume SKUs
• Moderately low ceiling heights

Characteristics

• Tray or Bin Replenished / Tray or Bin Cycled to Workstation for Each Picking
• Mature Technology
• Moderate Investment
• Slow to Moderate Speed 
• Scalable
• Moderate Flexibility

Sample Suppliers

• Kardex
• Modula
• White

Suitability:  

• Each picking slow to moderate volume SKUs
• Highly variable demand
• Uncertain long term demand forecast
• Low capital budget

Characteristics  

• Case, Totes, or Shelves to Operator
• Emerging to Maturing Technologies
• Scalable Investment (RaaS is common)
• Slow to Moderate Speed 
• Scalable; High Flexibility

Sample Suppliers  

• Geek+
• Grenzebach
• GreyOrange
• HAI Robotics
• Scallog

Suitability:  

• Pallet in, pallet out operation
• Deep dense storage of many same-SKU pallets
• Several thousand palletized products in inventory
• LIFO or FIFO

Characteristics

• Pallet in / out on one or both sides
• Shuttle moves pallet to/from end positions pick up and drop off locations
• Very high cubic space utilization
• High cost per pallet position
• May be integrated with vertical lifts
• Moderate Flexibility 

Sample Suppliers

• Apex
• Daifuku
• Frazier Industrial
• Interlake Mecalux
• MOVU
• Swisslog

Suitability

• Pick up, transport, putaway, and drop off of pallets and stable large unit loads
• Tugging or towing wheeled containers
• Multi-shift, high volume pallet movement operations across common "A" to "B" fixed movement paths
• Scarcity or high expense of labor

Types of AGVs:

• Unit Load
• Counterbalanced Forklift
• Double Wide
• Straddle
• Reach Truck
• Very Narrow Aisle
• Tower / Tugger

Navigation  

• Magnetic Tape
• Laser
• Wire
• Optical Cameras

Sample Suppliers    

• Daifuku
• Dematic (KION)
• E80 Group
• Hyster-Yale
• JBT
• Jungheinrich
• Linde
• KION
• KUKA
• Rocla
• SSI Schaefer
• STILL
• Swisslog
• System Logistics
• Toyota Material Handling

• Suitability
• Goods to person (GTP) shelf-based each picking
• Persons to good (PTG) aisle-based each picking
• Small goods unit sortation
• Payload transport
• Modest to high volume multi-shift operations
• Scarcity or high expense of labor

Types of AMRs:

• GTP Shelving and Product Movers
• Collaborative Pick & Replenishment Assistants
• Shelf Lift
• Conveyor Transfers
• Tilt Tray Sortation
• Stacker Trays
• Shrink Wrapping

Navigation Guidance

• LIDAR (Laser)
• 2D and 3D cameras
• Geo Fencing
• Odometry & Localization
• Obstacle Detection & Avoidance

Sample Suppliers      

• 6 River Systems
• Addverb
• Agilox
• Balvo
• DS Automation
• Fetch Robotics
• Geek+
• Grenzebach
• GreyOrange
• HAI Robotics
• IAM Robotics
• Junheinrich (Magazino)
• Locus Robotics
• MiR
• OTTO Motors
• Quicktron
• Rockwell Automation (OTTO)
• Starnus
• Swisslog
• Tompkins Robotics
• VisionNav Robotics
• Vecna Robotics
• Waypoint

For an exhaustive list of AMR providers and their solutions, please visit the Mobile Robot Directory.

Humanoid Robots

• Humanoid robots offer the wide flexibility of human-like movement unlike any other warehouse automation solution and may be suitable for laborious, menial, and/or ergonomically challenging tasks otherwise performed by warehouse workers.
• Emergence in warehousing is relatively new but may grow rapidly in the years to come

Sample Humanoid Developers

• 1x robotics - Neo
• Agility Robotics - Digit (warehouse focused)
• Apptroniks - Apollo (warehouse focused)
• Boston Dynamics - Atlas
• Fourier - GR1
• Figure.ai - Figure 01
• PAL Robotics - TALOS
• Rainbow Robotics - HUBO2
• Sanctuary.ai - Phoenix
• Telsa - Optimus
• Unitree Robotics - H1
• Xiaomi - Cyberone

Trailer / Container Case Unloading

• Unloading loose cases from trailers and shipping containers is a arduous labor task
• Such labor can be significantly reduced or eliminated with semi or fully automated equipment

Sample Suppliers

• Boston Dynamics - Stretch (fully automated)
• Dexterity - DexR (fully automated load & unload)
• Gorbel - Destuff-it (semi-automated assistance)
• Mujin - Truck Bot (fully automated)
• Pickle Robot Company (fully automated)

Packaging Equipment

• This category includes cut to size corrugation, carton erectors, void fill, bubble wrapping, and case sealing.
• Automated packaging equipment can reduce labor cost, parcel DIM weight charges, and damages associated with shipping individual cases to customers.

Sample Suppliers

• 3M
• Accutech
• Cleveland Equipment
• CMC
• Lantech
• Packsize
• Ranpak
• SealedAir
• Sparck Technologies

Conventional & Robotic Palletizers (& Depalletizers)

• Generally, there are two types of palletizers - conventional and robotic
• Cases fed to a conventional palletizer are rotated and organized by layer and then placed, layer by layer, onto a pallet.  They are ideally suited for high speed palletization of cases with minimal variation in package size
• Robotic palletizers grip one or more cases at a time then place onto a pallet using an articulated robotic arm.  These are often used in lower speed environments and when package size is more variable from SKU to SKU 
• The same robotic palletizer technology may also be used for depalletizing
• Note, several companies source the OEM technologies, may apply proprietary software, and specialize in customizing end-customer solutions

Sample OEM Suppliers

• Columbia - conventional OEM
• TopTier - conventional OEM
• ABB - robotic OEM
• Doosan - robotic OEM
• Fanuc - robotic OEM
• Kawasaki - robotic OEM
• Universal Robots - robotic OEM

Robotic Piece Pick & Placement

• Robotic pick and place technology utilizes robots with articulated arms, advanced vision and sensing systems, and customized attachments to grip an individual item and then place to a destination point within "arms reach" of the robot
• Frequently, such solutions are suitable at ASRS pick stations picking product from donor bin to destination totes.
• When picking from multi-SKU bins or totes, the robot must maneuver the item to a barcode reader prior to proper placement

Sample Suppliers

• ABB
• Berkshire Grey
• Covariant
• Daifuku
• Dematic
• Dexterity
• Fanuc
• Fizyr
• Kindred
• KUKA
• Mukin
• Omron
• OSARO
• Plus One Robotics
• RightHand Robotics
• Universal Robots
• Yasakawa

Gantry Robot Systems

• Overhead gantry robots move in linear X, Y, Z cubic directions to automate the pick and placement of uniform stacks or units of typically large times (e.g. tires, milk crates, cases).
• Such systems allow for dense floor storage and picking within a secure, confined area in the warehouse

Sample Suppliers

• Cimcorp
• Sage Automation
• Cassioli

 Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)

• A WMS manages operational processes, receipt management, order management, and inventory management within a warehouse or distribution center (i.e. receiving, putaway, replenishment, picking, packing, shipping, and inventory control).
• More advanced systems provide extended functionality (e.g. waveless planning, yard management, dock scheduling, slotting optimization), decision-support capability, and tight integration with automated equipment.

Sample Suppliers

• Blue Yonder
• Infor
• Koerber
• Manhattan Associates
• Oracle
• SAP
• Softeon
• SSI Schaefer
• Tecsys

WES/WCS Software

• As the level of automation grows in a warehouse, the software emphasis shifts from people-centric WMS processes to materials handling integration (WCS) and, optimization (WES).  
• A WMS manages orders, inventory, and warehouse processes whereas a traditional warehouse control system (WCS) executes the physical movement of goods throughout a warehouse material handling system, such as conveyors, sorters, automated storage and retrieval systems, etc.
• A WES is generally an extension of a WCS with additional business logic that blends and adds upon the traditional capabilities of a WMS and WCS.

Sample Suppliers

• Bastian - Exacta
• Dematic - Dematic IQ
• Fortna - FortnaWES
• Honeywell - Momentum
• KPI - Kommand Performance
• New Dawn - Intelligent WES
• Numina - RDS
• Softeon - Softeon WES
• SSI Schaefer - WAMAS
• Swisslog - SynQ
• Tech King Operations - SmartMoves
• Vargo - COFE
• Westfalia - Savanna.NET

Multi-Robot Integration & Orchestration

• Intelligent middleware (generally with pre-built APIs) sitting between multi-platform automated robots, sensing devices, and warehouse execution software 
• The software assigns and coordinates work, and monitors performance across diverse, heterogeneous fleets of robots and complimentary warehouse automation systems
• Ideally leveraged in lieu proprietary, single-supplier platforms to enable agnostic solution scalability and/or replacement across the warehouse as operational needs change

Sample Suppliers

• Accelogix
• CoEvolution
• Formant
• GreyOrange
• InOrbit
• MacGregor Partners
• Rapyuta
• Ready Robotics
• SVT Robotics

Unified Control System (UCS)

• An emerging capability to unify control between conventional material handling systems, robots, the WMS, WES, and WCS software
• Conceptually, it optimizes task assignments and material flow across conventional and advanced physical and digital systems throughout the warehouse

Sample Supplier

• ferag
• Koerber

Warehouse Simulation & Digital Twin

• A digital twin is a digital representation of the warehouse (e.g. activity, material movement, equipment, labor) enabling visualization, analysis, prediction, and optimization of people, processes, and technologies
• A form of digital twin technology is warehouse simulation, which is a virtual mathematical model used for the purpose of testing interdependencies between volume, variability, labor, and equipment in the flow of goods through a warehouse
• Often, simulation software is used to evaluate a conceptual or an existing warehouse design utilizing mechanized or automated equipment to evaluate throughput capacities and potential bottlenecks in the systems (e.g. conveyor and sortation equipment, AGVs AMRs)

Sample Suppliers

• AnyLogic
• Arena
• AutoMod
• CreateASoft
• Emulate3D
• Flexsim
• Logivations
• ProModel
• Rockwell Automation
• SimEvents

Warehouse Slotting

• Slotting is the process of assigning specific items to locations with the objective to balance optimized order picking and putaway efficiency with effective space utilization in the warehouse 
• Fixed slotting assigns an item to a fixed location whereas random slotting assigns items to a pick zone

Sample Suppliers

• Fortna - OptSlot DC
• Manhattan Associates - Slotting Optimization (4SiGHT)
• Mantis - Advanced Slotting (DC Expert)
• Royal 4 Systems - WISE
• Slot3D
• WarehouseVision

Voice & Light Directed Picking

• Voice picking is a hands-free system to direct and confirm warehouse operator tasks via verbal commands and interactive speech recognition
• Pick (and put) to light systems visually direct the operator using a light display at the pick or put location.  The lights turn off as the pick or put is confirmed

Sample Suppliers:

• Erhardt Partner Group - voice
• Lighting Pick - voice, lights
• Lucas Systems - voice
• Mountain Leverage - voice
• Numina - voice
• Voxware - voice
• Voodo Robotics - lights
• Zebra - voice

Automated Identification & Data Collection (AIDC)

• Utilized to identify, verify, record, communicate, track, trace, and store data on packaged or containerized items
• Leverages technologies such as scanners, barcodes, RFID tags and readers, voice recognition to automate manual activity

Sample Suppliers

• Alien
• Cognex
• Datalogic
• Denso Wave
• Honeywell
• Keyence
• Newland
• SICK
• Zebra

Scales and Measurement Systems

• Enables static or dynamic capture of weights and dimensions of items, parcels, and pallets
• Frequently integrates with barcodes readers and cameras and warehouse management software to track and manage such data

Sample Suppliers

• Cognex
• Cubican
• Falcon Autotech
• FreightSnap
• Mettler Toledo
• Parcelcube
• Rice Lake
• vMeasure
• Zebra

Automated Cycle Counting

• Utilizes mobile automation robots to scan or sense product barcodes or RFID tags to count inventory and monitor storage locations

Sample Suppliers

• Dexory
• Infinium Robotics
• Verity
• Vimaan