{"id":4656,"date":"2013-07-01T12:46:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T17:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/?p=4656"},"modified":"2023-11-14T21:18:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T03:18:10","slug":"mobile-robots-make-warehouse-ops-cheaper-and-more-efficient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/material-handling\/mobile-robots-make-warehouse-ops-cheaper-and-more-efficient\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile Robots Make Warehouse Ops Cheaper and More Efficient"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mobile<\/a>Mobile robots have been used in manufacturing for decades, but thanks to their shrinking costs and the needs for businesses to increase efficiencies and lower expenses, they are starting to appear more frequently in warehouse and distribution applications.<\/p>\n

Corey Ryan, medical account manager for KUKA Robotics, based in Shelby Township, Michigan, said that in recent years robots have been showing up in more and more businesses, not just manufacturing.<\/p>\n

“We increased interest in mobile robotics across all industries,” Ryan told the website Robotics Online<\/a>. “The ability of one mobile robot to service several locations and perform a greatly expanded\u00a0 range of task offers a great appeal for specialized applications.”<\/p>\n

Giant Eagle Uses Robots to Cut Warehouse Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n

One success story is Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, a leading supermarket chain that operates in four Eastern states. The company currently is using pallet-handling mobile robots in its 440,000-square-foot food\u00a0 distribution center outside of Pittsburgh. Four\u00a0double pallet robots, which resemble driver-less forklift truck, handle much\u00a0of the facility’s putaway operations.\u00a0Another four mobile robots are being used at a Giant Eagle distribution center in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n

The trucks automatically offload pallets from semi-tractor trailers then move the two at a time to drop-off locations throughout the warehouse. They are fully integrated with the facility’s automated storage and retrieval system, which uses voice-controlled cranes to retrieve pallets from 12,000 separate locations.<\/p>\n

Joe Hurley, Giant Eagle’s senior vice president of distribution and logistics, said the\u00a0mobile robots have been instrumental in\u00a0reducing\u00a0operational costs at the facility, which services 229 supermarkets and 187 fuel and convenience stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.<\/p>\n

“We have reduced manned travel for putaway by 20% to 30% and we increased the high lift pallet per hour by 20%,” Hurley said. “What’s more, robotic industrial trucks have freed truck operators up for more valuable processes, such as replenishment and picking.”<\/p>\n

Hurley added\u00a0that the efficiencies created by the robots have allowed Giant Eagle to reduce costs and remain competitive in the crowded grocery marketplace. “We have to keep our warehouses efficient so we can take cost out of the system and reinvest those savings into the value proposition we offer to customers,” he said.<\/p>\n

Now Affordable for Practically Everybody<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once an option only for deep-pocketed businesses, mobile robots are now an affordable option for any operation<\/a>, regardless of its operating budget. They offer long-term savings in exchange for small-term investment. Today’s systems are easy to install and have lower overall installation and operational costs than traditional warehouse automation systems. Companies can not only save on payroll, but also can enjoy lower overhead\u00a0by using zone heating and lighting in limited areas where human stations are located.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mobile robots have been used in manufacturing for decades, but thanks to their shrinking costs and the needs for businesses to increase efficiencies and lower expenses, they are starting to appear more frequently in warehouse and distribution applications. Corey Ryan, medical account manager for KUKA Robotics, based in Shelby Township, Michigan, said that in recent … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,293,37],"tags":[976,7,1079,348,994,993,1083],"class_list":["post-4656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-material-handling","category-news","category-warehouse-dock-equipment","tag-featured","tag-lift-trucks","tag-material-handling","tag-material-handling-solutions","tag-material-lift","tag-pallet-lift","tag-warehouse-dock-equipment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12834,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4656\/revisions\/12834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahrns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}