Robot Run Warehouses

[mandy]

Squat orange robots and a set of adaptive algorithms are making it possible to deliver online orders faster. The system, so far installed in two giant Staples warehouses, allows workers to fill two to three times as many orders as they could with conventional methods. The startup that developed the robots and software, Kiva Systems, based in Woburn, MA, announced yesterday that it is rolling out a third system, for the pharmacy giant Walgreens...

If a consumer orders an item at 2 P.M. on a Thursday, he says, at 2:01, a robot can be delivering that order to a worker to pack. If an order has multiple items, robots will line up for workers as fast as the workers can pack the items. Once the items are packed, robots can pick up the boxes, storing them temporarily or delivering them to the appropriate delivery truck.

Mountz says that the system allows workers to fill orders much faster than conventional systems do because the robots can work in parallel, allowing dozens of workers to fill dozens of orders simultaneously...

full article: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19687/?a=f