Beyond Picking: The Unmatched Flexibility of Warehouse Automation

When you think about warehouse automation, the first image that might pop into your head is a warehouse filled with miles of conveyors or huge, bulky (and dangerous) solutions. But that’s the old days, or at least it should be for warehouses that want to be able to roll with the punches of changing order volumes. The current and future versions of warehouse automation bring so much more to the table, and they’re not what you’re envisioning. Instead, they’re multitasking solutions that provide the warehouse flexibility you need to take on not just picking, but every aspect of your warehouse operations.

If you’re a warehouse manager or executive, you know that efficiency is how you measure success, and with warehouse automation, you can make your entire warehouse operations hum like a well-tuned machine. Let’s look at the surprising and practical ways that warehouse automation can add value beyond each picking that you may not have thought of before for unmatched flexibility.

Case Picking for Large and Heavy Items

Warehouse managers dealing with bulky or heavy goods often face a tough choice: invest in specialized equipment or risk injuries from manual handling. Autonomous robots bridge the gap. Equipped to handle large items, these robots can:

• Pick and transport heavy cases or pallets.
• Consolidate orders directly at the dock, reducing handling.
• Improve safety by reducing the physical strain on associates.

By automating case picking, you can boost your warehouse throughput while keeping your team safe and productive.

Picking Directly from Pallets

Traditionally, warehouses move goods from pallets to shelves before picking orders. Autonomous robots simplify this by enabling warehouse associates to pick directly from pallets, eliminating unnecessary steps, reducing handling time, and improving overall efficiency.

The pallets can be staged directly near the inbound or in bulk storage areas and then quickly swapped out for replenished inventory. 

By streamlining the picking process in this way, warehouses can achieve faster order fulfillment while minimizing worker effort and also removes the need and effort to break pallets and cases down to put into an AS/RS or other G2P automation solution. It’s a win-win solution that reflects how robots remove friction from even the most routine tasks.

Putaway and Returns

In the easiest way to explain it, the putaway of returns or replenishment process is essentially the reverse process of picking. Your associate takes an item off the autonomous robot and puts it back into a bin rather than picking an item out of the bin to place on the robot. The autonomous robots make the process easier for your warehouse associates by taking away the miles of walking each day and the transport of heavy items for replenishment and putaway..

Warehouse Peak Season

Every warehouse manager knows the stress of peak seasons when orders skyrocket, and your regular team feels like they’re trying to run a marathon quicker than Usain Bolt. With plug-and-play capabilities, you can quickly add more autonomous robots to your fleet during high-demand periods and when the rush subsides, they can be powered down and returned.

This scalability isn’t just convenient; it’s a necessity for warehouses that need to handle increased demand without overcommitting to permanent infrastructure. It’s like having an elastic waistband for your operations that is flexible, comfortable, and always a perfect fit.

Streamlining Packing with Box-on-Demand

In warehouses where packing is as critical as picking, warehouse automation offers innovative solutions that save time, space, and money. Box-on-demand systems, for example, integrate with autonomous robots to create custom-sized cartons that fit products like a glove. The benefits are significant:

• Space savings: Eliminate the need for staging pre-built cartons.
• Cost efficiency: Reduce shipping costs by minimizing box size and weight.
• Speed: Move picked items directly to packing with fewer manual touchpoints.

With autonomous robots handling this workflow, your warehouse can pivot from traditional packing stations to a streamlined, one-touch process. The result: fewer bottlenecks and happier customers.

Picking in Tight Spaces and Narrow Aisles

Navigating narrow aisles used to be a logistical headache, often requiring specialized equipment or manual labor. Autonomous robots, however, thrive in these environments. Their nimble design and intelligent navigation systems enable them to automate tight environments like mezzanines, narrow aisles, and high traffic areas that typically can’t be automated with other methods. These capabilities open up new possibilities for warehouses with dense layouts, maximizing storage while maintaining efficiency.

Improving Order Accuracy with Pick-and-Pass

Complex orders often require items to be picked from different areas of the warehouse, which could include picking across multiple floors in a pick tower or mezzanine. Traditionally, this involves either batch picking or a lengthy consolidation process. Autonomous robots introduce a smarter alternative: pick-and-pass.

With this method, a pick container is partially filled in one area, then handed off to another robot to continue the job elsewhere. The result is:

• Higher order accuracy by eliminating the need for downstream sorting.
• Faster cycle times by reducing batch pick dependencies.
• Better use of space by eliminating sortation areas.

It’s teamwork at its best when robots and human associates work together to get orders out the door faster and more accurately.

MHE Detection and Avoidance

Even with automated systems, some warehouses still rely on Material Handling Equipment (MHE) like forklifts and high-lift order pickers to move larger goods around. These manual forklifts are run by hourly employees who have specific productivity goals and bonuses that are tied to increased rates, so they’re motivated to move material quickly. The downside of that speed is that they’re less likely to look around the operating area before they move their forklift and could cause congestion and block access to pick locations.

With detection technology and the use of tags, robots can see the forklift in its path and either skip the pick or putaway until the forklift is no longer there, or immediately leave the zone and note that the area is blocked. This detection helps robots to avoid forklift trucks, reduce site impacts, and reduce costly repairs. 

Warehouse Transportation Automated

One of the most tedious, and least efficient, tasks in a warehouse is moving items from point A to point B. Enter warehouse automation, the ultimate couriers for point-to-point (P2P) transport. Collaborative robots can automate material flow, tackling repetitive transport tasks like:

• Delivering empty totes to induction areas
• Moving work-in-progress (WIP) containers between stations
• Transferring packed packages to shipping docks
• Transporting empty corrugate to compactors

Unlike conveyors or other fixed systems, warehouse automation in the form of robots offer flexibility for your warehouse. They can be deployed without overhauling your workflows, enabling seamless integration with your existing operations. Think of them as the warehouse equivalent of an Uber or Lyft driver that is always ready to go where they’re needed most at almost a moment’s notice.

Multi-Client Sites

For third-party logistics (3PLs) providers, juggling multiple clients in one warehouse can feel like running a circus without a ringmaster. Warehouse automation simplifies the chaos and provides the ability to flexibly assign bots between clients and dynamically allocate your warehouse resources based on demand.

Here’s how it works: you can use autonomous robots to prioritize tasks for one client, then seamlessly switch to another when workloads shift in order to keep your warehouse balanced while focusing on high priorities across your clients. This keeps your warehouse operations flowing smoothly, reduces idle time, and maximizes your ROI. It’s resource optimization at its finest, ensuring every robot is pulling its weight.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Finally, one of the most understated yet powerful benefits of warehouse automation in the form of autonomous robots is their ability to generate actionable intelligence. Every task they perform feeds into a larger pool of data insights, helping you optimize workflows, improve task assignments, and even predict future demand.

With this data at your fingertips, you can make smarter decisions about inventory placement, staffing, and resource allocation. It’s like having a crystal ball for your warehouse, minus the guesswork.

Rethinking What Warehouse Automation Can Do

Autonomous mobile robots from Locus Robotics aren’t just for picking, although they’re great at that! They’re also problem-solvers, space-savers, and efficiency-boosters. From handling peak demand to navigating tight spaces and supporting multiple clients, these versatile machines are increasing what’s possible in warehouse operations.

If you’ve heard about warehouse automation and autonomous robots as a one-trick pony, it’s time to think bigger. The potential to enhance nearly every corner of your warehouse is within reach, and the path to greater efficiency and profitability has never been clearer.

Let’s talk about how you can unlock these benefits and unmatched flexibility in your warehouse.