As mentioned above, there are different components that make up warehouse automation and control. I will touch on two components that are the most exciting to me: autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS).
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are now commonplace in many warehouses, helping warehouse workers to fulfill orders quickly and efficiently. There are a few different types of robots that companies are considering, and each has its own unique set advantages. The key for AMRs is that they enable workers to be more productive due to constant collaboration. This is especially true as warehouse labor is becoming harder to find and more expensive to train. There are two main types of AMRs – those based on fleet management and systems that rely on picking optimization:
One of the biggest concerns about AMRs is how warehouse workers will interact with the bots. The fear is that the bots will get in the way of their human counterparts, cause slowdowns, or worse, cause dangerous working conditions. Generally speaking, from all of the companies we have spoken with, within a week or two of deployment, employees were used to seeing the bots scurrying around the warehouse and were no longer concerned about collisions.
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