New robotic automation options can also be up and running more quickly. “With large-scale, conventional automation, it’s 18 to 24 months from the time I start thinking about automating before I move the rst box out the door,” says Dwight Klappich, vice president and analyst at Gartner. Return on investment might take ve to seven years, making automation better suited to companies that are large, have big problems, and have the capital to invest, Klappich adds. With steel prices at an all-time high, “the return on investment for conventional automation is less attractive,” says Rueben Scriven, senior analyst for warehouse automation at Interact Analysis. OFFTHECHARTSDEMAND It’s good news for robotic solutions providers—GreyOrange has doubled in size during each of the past two years, for example. Klappich understands why, saying demand is “off the charts.” But so is the number of options, which can cause many warehouses that need automation to delay adoption. While robotic automation systems can be operational sooner than conventional predecessors, selecting the best solution from all those options takes time. What’s more, if you’re turning to automation to solve more than one problem, you probably won’t get everything you need from one vendor. Just as warehouses use different brands of materials handling equipment, they need multiple types of robots provided by several vendors. It’s why some robotics companies are acquiring brands with different product offerings, such as Locus Robotics’ recent acquisition of Waypoint Robotics to expand its product offerings. “There’s a trend toward offering complementary solutions as an end- to-end process, with rms starting to mix and match technology,” says Mike Futch, CEO of Tompkins Robotics. “For example, we have robotic sortation, while other vendors offer robotic storage and retrieval, and still others provide robotic packaging.”
Kmart Australia deployed Tompkins Robotics’ tSort mobile automation solution to support its distributed logistics network.
With continued sales and network growth creating challenges in Kmart Australia’s New Zealand retail distribution and fulfillment system, the company sought a scalable way to get merchandise out of fulfillment centers and into stores more efficiently and with fewer people. The discount department store chain, with more than 240 locations in Australia and New Zealand, required a sorting system that could handle its wide-ranging mix of products, packaging, and product configurations. It also wanted a flexible solution it could relocate and reallocate to accommodate regional shifts in its growing distribution network. The retailer’s RFP process led it to Tompkins Robotics and its modular tSort system for retail replenishment. The U.S.-based Tompkins Robotics team knew that completing the installation during a global pandemic when international travel was restricted would be a challenge, but the teams from both organizations had a plan. To minimize staff travel, Tompkins Robotics hired an in-country integrator to set up the modular hardware, an installation process that typically requires less than half the time and labor of traditional sorting systems. “Our physical assets just roll off the truck and are put together like LEGO blocks,” says Mike Futch, CEO of Tompkins Robotics. His company’s technicians in the United States monitored and inspected the contractor’s work using a variety of visual monitoring tools. The robotics firm also ran virtual software tests before its technicians arrived in New Zealand to complete the installation. “We always try to do the IT testing virtually to shake it all out before anyone goes on site to test,” Futch says. Once there, technicians ran end-to-end tests and trained staff before providing on-site support when the system went live in May 2021. Completed in just five months, the system has allowed Kmart Australia to reduce manual handling, increase throughput, improve both safety and inventory accuracy, and use existing warehouse space more efficiently. Pleased with the results, the retailer quickly expanded the system a few months later to increase capacity by 20%. And, they accomplished that in a single weekend. “It’s a tried and proven system that works well,” Futch says.
February 2022 • Inbound Logistics 35
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