mobile robotics in the warehouse · fetch robotics, inc. •award-winning intralogistics automation...

MOBILE ROBOTICSIN THE WAREHOUSE

MATT WICKS, HONEYWELL INTELLIGRATED

JOE LAU, FETCH ROBOTICS, INC.

July 30, 2019

Honeywell Confidential - ©2019 by Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

PRESENTER

MATT WICKSVice President, Product Development – Honeywell Intelligrated

• More than 23 years of experience in the material handling industry

• Expertise in the areas of controls and software integration for

high-volume manufacturing and distribution systems

• Extensive experience in the field of advanced robotic solution

development, including robotic solution integration

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University

of Missouri – Rolla (Missouri S&T)

• Currently serves as second vice-chair on the Robotics Industry

Association Board of Directors

• Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Missouri

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Honeywell Confidential - ©2019 by Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved. 2

PRESENTER

JOE LAUHead of Channels – Fetch Robotics, Inc.

• Joe Lau is director of product marketing at Fetch Robotics, where he

oversees partnerships for the company.

• Prior to joining Fetch Robotics, Joe was associate vice president for

Enterprise Products at SYNNEX Corporation, one of the largest IT

distributor/manufacturers in the world.

• During his 17 years at SYNNEX, Joe served in both product and business

development roles, with P&L responsibilities for commodity and enterprise

businesses.

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THE CHALLENGES: EXPLOSIVE E-COMMERCE GROWTH

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Online purchasing growing among ALL age groups

According to data provided by Eurostat, the biggest

growth in EU28 is among individuals aged 20 to 24.

The percentage of individuals having last purchased

online in the last three months among internet users

grew by 25 percent between 2013 and 2017, going

from 51 to 64 percent, where for all individuals, this

increase was of 14 percent.

According to eMarketer,

online shopping now

accounts for almost

10% of total retail sales.

10%total retail sales

Source for all stats above: https://www.nationmaster.com/ecommerce

Based on numbers from the U.S.

Census Bureau, online retail sales

are expected to continue to grow by

almost 20% between 2018 and

2022 in the U.S., reaching almost

380 million in 2022.

20%growth

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

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https://www.nationmaster.com/ecommerce

Honeywell Confidential - ©2019 by Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.@Intelligrated

A KEY PRODUCTIVITY ENABLER, PRIMED FOR EXTREME GROWTHRobotics in the DC are vital to handle growing order volumes and overcome

labor availability and resourcing challenges.

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E-commerce

distribution

volume is

accelerating

at a rate of

Industry

growth

outpaces

the labor

pool by a

ratio of

Manual

operation

is today’s

norm for 6:1 80%

of DCs

25%

annually

Source: eMarketer, internal analysis

Source: Datex Corp’s Labor Shortages in the Supply Chain Workforce presentation

Source: DHL’s Robotics in Logistics Study, St. Onge Company internal survey of customers

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LABOR BY THE NUMBERS

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• Nearly 30% of the workforce is age 55 or older.

• Cost to rehire ranges from 25–150% of an employee’s annual salary.

• 600,000 warehouse jobs were unfulfilled in 2017.

• Repetitive motion injuries costs employers $80 million annually.

• Industry growth outpaces the labor pool by a rate of 6:1.

Five injuries per 100 full-time warehouse

workers — over 50% higher than overall average

Annual turnover ratefor warehouse workers is

36%

Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics

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POLLING QUESTION

What is the top consideration when evaluating the use of robotics

in the warehouse?

• Labor saving/availability

• Reducing injury rates

• Productivity gains/quality improvements

• Other

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ROBOTICS EVOLUTION

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Partially Structured• Aware of and adaptive

to surroundings

• Tasks follow pattern

Analogy: Cars on roads

Completely Unstructured• Human equivalent degree of

awareness and flexibility

Analogy: Cars off-road, free range

Logistics labor is mainly

employed in completely

unstructured and

partially structured

environments.

Technology advances

enable robotics leap

• Vision systems

• Sensor technology

• Grasping technology

• Mobility

• Software

• Machine learning

Completely Structured• Little or no sensing

• Highly repetitive tasks

Analogy: Trains on tracks

Current

State

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The terms mobile robot/AGV/AMR/LGV are ones that are used interchangeably in the industry and refer to a class of mobile

machines that consists of a vehicle type and payload and a guidance system.

The makeup of these generally classify the machine into its respective category:

• AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) — Vehicle with onboard sensors that enables it navigate autonomously and navigate around obstacles without the need

of other infrastructure such as wires, channels and rails.

• AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) — Generally more heavy-duty vehicle/payload and utilizes simpler “traditional” forms of guidance that require

modifications to the infrastructure that the vehicle is to operate within. Some small/light-duty AGV/LGVs are called AMR/mobile robots, but do not

possess the same navigation capabilities as a true AMR/mobile robot.

• LGV (Laser-Guided Vehicle) (AGV subset) — Utilizes lasers for guidance. In some cases, an LGV may use a similar guidance approach as the AMR.

MOBILE ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY IN LOGISTICS

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ADVANTAGES OF MOBILE ROBOTICS

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Cost-effective

• Economical to get started. Total deployment

costs are lower than traditional industrial

robotics in many applications.

– Little or no infrastructure modifications needed to

DCs or fleets

– Easy integration with existing workflows and

processes

Scalability

• Add robots as needed

– Seamlessly integrate with complete The Connected

Distribution Center solutions — now or in the future

Adaptable

• Able to sense the environment and

make appropriate decisions

Improved Capabilities

• Adding mobile to a robotic solution

increases the capabilities over a

static solution

• Wider reach envelope and

operating range


Honeywell Confidential - ©2019 by Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.@Intelligrated 10

Easy, fast

• Honeywell and Fetch: strategic relationship on mobile

robotic solutions

• Brings together unique AMR technology and combines

this with the robotic integration expertise and broad

product offering from Honeywell

• AMRs can be leveraged as simple integration or as

part of larger, complex integrated systems, and backed

by Honeywell Intelligrated integration and support

capabilities

AMR TECHNOLOGIES

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FETCH ROBOTICS, INC.

• Award-winning intralogistics automation company

• Founded 2014 by recognized leaders in robotics

• Headquartered in Silicon Valley

• Inventors of the world’s first cloud robotics platform

Most Successful &

Innovative Supply Chain

Projects 2019

Top 25 Supply Chain

Startups 2017

Best Overall Robotics

Company 2019

Technology Pioneer

2018

The World’s Most Innovative

Companies 2019

Innovation Award

2016

2019

IDC Innovators for Warehouse

Robotics 2016

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CLOUD ROBOTICS

PLATFORMThe broadest range of AMRs for

material handling and inventory

tracking

HMIShelf

CartConnect

RollerTop

TagSurveyor

Freight1500 Freight500

HMIShelf

Autonomous transport

for packages, totes

and bins; 78 kg

payload capacity

CartConnect

Automatically picks up

and drops off carts;

77 kg payload

capacity

RollerTop100

Coexist with current

conveyor

infrastructure

TagSurveyor

Pinpoint your

inventory multiple

times per day.

Freight500

Transport cases and

smaller pallets; 500 kg

capacity

Freight1500

For large and

palletized payloads

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https://player.vimeo.com/video/274716844/?autoplay=1







Each/Case/

Pallet Picking

Receiving and

Put-away

Cross-docking

ASRS/VLM

Induction

Staging and

Consolidation

JIT & Line

Replenishment

Raw Material and

WIP Movements

Returns

Disposition

Material Recycling

Cycle Counting

and Physical

Inventory

ADDRESSES KEY WAREHOUSE, DISTRIBUTION AND MANUFACTURING WORKFLOWS

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AMR WORKFLOW EXAMPLES

Warehouse Solutions Manufacturing Solutions Inventory Management

• Piece, case, pallet picking

• Replenishment

• Receiving to put-away

• Order consolidation

• Returns handling

• Recycling and reclamation

• Kitting

• Sub-assembly

• Sequencing and WIP

movement

• Production line supply

and removal

• Kanban replenishment

• Finished goods delivery

• RFID inventory tracking

• Physical inventory

• Cycle counting

• Asset tag tracking

• Identify inventory

discrepancies

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Customer

One of the world’s largest electronics

distributors, with 75 locations worldwide

The Environment

• 500,000 sq. ft. facility

• Conveyors and AS/RS

Goals

• Improve AS/RS induction speed

• Decrease order processing

dwell times

• Extend useful life of current facilityROI

less than one year

39% 35,000 375

Cycle Time

Improvement

Man-hours

Saved per YearDeliveries

per Day

AMR Solution:

● 22 HMIShelf AMRs deployed

● Water-spider workflow:

transport of material to and from

multiple locations

CASE STUDY: TOP FIVE ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTOR

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Customer

GPS technology provider for

diverse markets

The Environment

• 700,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility

• Expansion to warehouse section for

inventory counting and pallet delivery

Goals

• Impact to FTE reallocation

• Impact to overtime hours saved

• Improvement in delivery rateResults

Delivered 50% 6months

Cycle Time

Improvement

Return on

InvestmentLabor Hours

Redeployed

AMR Solution:

● HMIShelf AMRs deployed

● Raw material delivery workflow:

transport of raw material

throughout production facility

CASE STUDY:TOP FIVE PND MANUFACTURER

1,080hrs/month

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Customer

Custom mechanical assembly mfg.

The Environment

• 250,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility

• Expansion to grow mfg. capacity

Goals



• Improvement in delivery rate

Anticipated Results

Reduced

Cycle Time

Improvement

Fast

Return on

Investment

More Labor

Hours

Redeployed

AMR Solution:

● HMIShelf AMRs

● Honeywell Intelligrated

Momentum™ routing software

INTEGRATED WORKFLOW SOLUTION EXAMPLE

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Customer

Fulfillment operations utilizing

Voice-directed picking

The Environment

• Fulfillment/warehousing operation

• Expansion to grow mfg. capacity

Goals



• Improvement in delivery rateAnticipated

Results

AMR Solution:

● HMIShelf AMRs or other form

factors

● Honeywell Voice-directed

picking operations and routing

Reduced

Cycle Time

Improvement

Fast

Return on

Investment

More Labor

Hours

Redeployed

INTEGRATED WORKFLOW SOLUTION EXAMPLE

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POLLING QUESTION

Where are you considering the use of AMR technology?

• Order fulfillment

• Kitting/Assembly

• Data collection

• Other material handling tasks

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ROBOTIC UNLOADER(MOBILE MANIPULATION ROBOT)


Dirty

• Extreme temperatures

January: 12°F

July: 99°F air temp →

140°F inside trailer

• Reduced efficiency

Dangerous

• Lifting low/high, reaching,

turning

• Crushed while unloading

• Struck by vehicles

• Falling off docks

WHY TRUCK UNLOADING: THE THREE D’S

Dull• Monotonous, repetitive,

isolated work

• Difficult to sustain high

level of productivity

• 30% annual turnover

Dangerous• Lifting low/high,

reaching, turning

• Crushed while unloading

• Struck by vehicles

• Falling off docks

Dirty• Extreme temperatures

January: 12°F

July: 99°F air temp. →

140°F inside trailer

• Reduced efficiency

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MOBILITY ENABLER

• Trailers are well beyond the

reach of a static arm

• Allows the unit to unload

entire trailer

• Extends the reach with

coordinated motion of the

arm and conveyor

Footer, Arial Bold 10pt 22



ROBOTIC UNLOADER

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• Navigation and sensing

capabilities

• Mobility enabled:

– Trailers are well beyond the

reach of a static arm

– Allows the unit to unload

entire trailer

– Extends the reach with

coordinated motion of the

arm and conveyor

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1. Recognize that much of the data for these

applications does not exist and will need to be

collected/understood.

2. Pilot programs are critical to understanding the

variability and determining the true value/ROI.

3. Try to limit the scope to keep projects as structured

as possible. Constrain the variables/applications.

4. Understand what these solutions can/cannot do. It’s

easy to overestimate the capabilities of robotic

solutions (thanks, YouTube).

CONSIDERATIONS FOR DEPLOYING ROBOTS

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• Should have extensive knowledge of

automation in the industry

• Deep understanding of robotics across

the organization

• Has a plan and can execute it

– Good pre-order service is an indicator of

post-order service

– Complete proposal with attention to detail

– Installation and commissioning are two

different skills. Do they have both?

– Professional project management

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• Reputation

– What kind of references do they have? Are

they offering to take you to installations?

– Are they RIA-certified?

• Size matters

– Can the company successfully execute

more than one project at a time?

– Financial security

• Remember, you are buying a solution,

not just a robot.

SELECTING A ROBOTIC INTEGRATOR

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Conveyor &

Sortation

Systems

Fulfillment

TechnologiesLifecycle

Support

Services

Operations &

Solutions

Development

Palletizing &

DepalletizingRobotic

Solutions

Software

Solutions

The Connected

Distribution

Center

@Intelligrated

QUESTIONS?

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mobile robotics in the warehouse · fetch robotics, inc. •award-winning intralogistics automation...

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