Why robots are the logIcal choIce For logIstIcs Industry 4.0 / smart FactorIes


With developments such as e-commerce and omnichannel distribution set to transform the way consumers purchase and receive their goods, Nigel Platt, lead business manager of ABB Robotics UK and Ireland explains why robotic automation offers an increasingly logical solution for logistics.


or the convenience of their mobile devices, there is a rising expectation of ever faster delivery of an increasingly diverse range of products, from food to flat packed furniture. While this may have seemed unreasonable 10, or even five years ago, consumers have been spoiled by an ongoing procession of technological developments that have transformed the way they can purchase and receive their goods. the success of many companies in meeting


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these expectations means that exactly how a product makes it from a warehouse to the doorstep gets taken for granted. While it is hard to miss the increasingly vast warehouses and distribution centres cropping up alongside the nation’s main roads and motorways, what happens inside them remains a mystery. one thing that is not a mystery is the continuing


rapid growth of e-commerce. In the uK alone, the volume and value of online retail transactions has grown steadily, with sales between 2012 and 2019 rising year on year from £33.24bn in 2012 to £76.02bn in 2019. With the ongoing effects of the coVId-19 pandemic on household shopping behaviours, this trend is likely to increase further.


GettING oRdeRs oUt qUIcKeR WIth RoBots matching the expectations of fast delivery of anything one can think of with the infrastructure needed to make it happen is leading a growing number of warehouse and logistics operators to look to robotic automation. In installations worldwide, robots have been shown to deliver a demonstrable return on investment through increased efficiency, higher throughput combined with improved accuracy – and hence, fewer returns and improved customer satisfaction. robots also offer flexibility as a way of future-proofing logistics operations against changes, not only in the level of demand but also in the form it takes and the channels it uses. to take one example, in the uK’s coronavirus


lockdown from the end of march 2020 onwards, food industry producers in areas as diverse as meat & poultry and heritage potatoes, previously supplying the restaurant and catering sector, had to shift focus quickly. many attempted to pivot towards supplying bricks-and-mortar retail or, if they were fortunate, home-delivery channels. For retail, this may partly be to do with adapting


primary processing and packing, but it was also - crucially - about having outbound logistics which could divert product from smaller batches and deliveries for individual foodservice outlets to larger shipments to retailer distribution centres.


the seARch foR flexIBIlIty there has been a growing interest in deploying robot automation to handle a growing range of tasks as users have become more aware of the potential benefits it can offer. Part of this is down to the way that robot


systems have evolved to offer more sector- and function-specific hardware and software options, with less need for the costly and time- consuming customisation of generic models. lead-times and commissioning times can often be further shortened by the use of digital-twin simulation for a virtual check of online-specific operation and compatibility. Integrated and modular systems are more readily available. Perceptions of complexity are also being tackled


by developments in simplified programming options and security features. together with the ability to quickly and easily switchover between robot programs to handle different goods, advances in robot technology and interfaces have granted users a greater sense of ‘ownership’, with the ability to perform many programming and simple house-keeping tasks without so much reliance on outside engineers. It is also true, however, that those who have invested in robotic automation have been reassured by the level of continued support they have seen from providers, whether for maintenance, trouble-shooting, upgrades, or where necessary, reprogramming. Quite rightly, the publicity generated by


collaborative robots (cobots) has helped to ease any concerns potential users may have felt about safety. but it is also true that robot safety across the broader range of systems has not only improved but become more transparent to end-users. a great deal of thought – and programming – has been put into how humans and robots can work confidently side-by-side in busy environments.


foUR WAys thAt RoBots ARe tRANsfoRmING loGIstIcs oPeRAtIoNs Whether as part of an Fmcg end-of-line operation, retail distribution centre, e-commerce fulfilment site or parcels-sorting facility, robotic automation can be used in a wide range of roles:


10 october 2021 | Factory&handlIngsolutIons


oday’s consumers are a demanding bunch. With more people doing their shopping from the comfort of their homes


Item picking. equipped with high-speed vision systems to identify product codes or other data, robotic item picking is reliable, efficient and – depending on the specified payload – compatible with items across a range of weights.


Palletising, depalletising, repalletising. Whether for cases or (more often as retailers and other businesses increasingly opt for returnable systems) for tote bins, palletising and depalletising are well-established robotic options. at a manufacturer’s end-of-line, in distribution centres and many locations besides, robotic systems offer fast and efficient palletising with precise placement according to programmed pallet patterns. as well as providing reliable and secure pallet-building, they avoid potential operator issues with manual handling of loads.


Robotic storage and retrieval systems. Invaluable in an e-commerce setting where multi-product, consolidated orders need to be accurately accumulated for dispatch, a robotic storage and retrieval system uses encoded data to identify, temporarily store and match items. again, repeat reliability is a key benefit.


singulation and sortation. In a parcel-sorting operation, a robot arm can be used in combination with vision systems to automatically singulate packages, assess their size and redirect them for induction into the correct downstream sorting zone.


In all these roles, robotics can make inefficient,


imprecise and potentially unsafe manual routines efficient, reliably precise and much safer. they offer no limits on the number of shifts that can be worked.


delIveRING the flexIBIlIty foR the fUtURe the coronavirus lockdown and its consequences have served to underscore the importance of systems which are not only flexible, but flexible in ways that might never have been envisaged in the past. building in this ‘what if…?’ element need not add hugely to the capital cost of a project, while conferring considerable competitive advantage in the event of these additional options coming into their own. this same flexibility will also be valuable in


facilitating the evolution of consumer behaviours whilst also pre-serving choice, for example, towards e-commerce and home delivery, while keeping all retail options open. It might also be about an ability to handle seasonal fluctuations in parcel volumes or a trend towards larger unit sizes.


ABB Robotics UK and Ireland new.abb.com/products/robotics


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