Autopicker robots from Brightpick to automate The Feed, Dr. Max warehouses

Hearken to this text

As robots deal with extra duties, The Feed has begun putting in Brightpick Autopicker programs in its new warehouse. The deployment features a complete of 48 robots, and Broomfield, Colo.-based sports activities diet and e-commerce firm, expects it to go stay in March. Brightpick has additionally rolled out its robots to Dr. Max, a number one European pharmaceutical provider.

The Feed makes a speciality of biking diet, associated exercise-recovery tools, and biking clothes. The web retailer‘s product line features a various vary of SKUs that change in measurement and construction, which might complicate robotic achievement, famous Cincinnati-based Brightpick.

“From the start, we’ve targeted on end-to-end programs,” mentioned Jan Zizka, co-founder and CEO of Brightpick. “We began with replenishment, then achievement and in-aisle selecting.”

“Then, we added goods-to-person robots to choose and consolidate gadgets similar to in e-grocery,” he instructed The Robotic Report. “Our newest characteristic is pallet selecting, nonetheless with the identical robots touring in aisles.”

The Feed appears to end-to-end automation

The warehouse automation within the 15,000 sq. ft. (1,400 sq. m) facility will embrace two goods-to-person (G2P) stations for guide dealing with of hard-to-pick gadgets. Within the first part of the mission, the cell robots will allow The Feed to meet 5,000 orders per day whereas considerably decreasing its reliance on guide labor.

Objects that the Autopicker vacuum cups can simply deal with will probably be saved in high-density storage totes to be retrieved autonomously. This stuff represent nearly all of warehouse area, based on Brightpick.

Small gadgets, similar to particular person gel packs and dietary supplements, will probably be saved within the G2P areas, the place human associates can singulate the gadgets.

Excessive-volume gadgets and bigger SKUs, similar to foam rollers, will probably be saved in a separate pallet selecting space, the place a human affiliate will choose an merchandise to be consolidated right into a buyer order with assist from the Autopicker.

“It is mindless to place high-frequency gadgets again into shelving,” Zizka mentioned. “We assist completely different modes of operation for orders to journey by way of the achievement middle. An order buffer helps put together for carriers coming at completely different occasions or going to completely different instructions.”

Additionally distinctive to The Feed product line are water bottles which are personalized with a crew or a buyer’s title and included with orders. A separate warehouse space is devoted to fulfilling these customized water bottles however remains to be consolidated by Autopickers for particular buyer orders.

“The Feed’s e-commerce platform is a performance-minded market for athletes,” mentioned Matt Johnson, founding father of The Feed. “We’ve scaled considerably over the previous few years and are transferring into a brand new, bigger warehouse. Brightpick Autopickers are a strong manner for us to maintain up with our excessive demand now and sooner or later.”

“This one of the vital utterly automated distribution facilities ever made,” Zizka asserted. “We’re attempting to supply the best stage of automation to optimize achievement. We’re not simply sticking a collaborative robotic arm on a cell base.”

Be taught from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and lots of extra.

Dr. Max to fill prescriptions with Autopicker

Brightpick additionally introduced the latest deployment of Autopickers at Dr. Max in three distribution facilities within the Czech Republic, together with one in Prague with eight robots. Dr. Max has direct-to-consumer pharmacies and hospital shoppers across the nation.

The pharmaceutical distribution market is very regulated, imposing extra necessities on the availability chain. To fulfill these necessities, Brightpick carried out performance to simply decide and choose pharmaceutical gadgets with the earliest expiration date. It may shortly cease selecting from any batch if, for instance, it’s discovered to be faulty.

Zizka instructed The Robotic Report that the Dr. Max warehouse is absolutely automated with no G2P stations and that its workflow posed distinctive necessities. Whereas Dr. Max has used robotic shuttles, its automated warehouse is now able to selecting as much as 7,000 gadgets per day and consolidating orders with Autopickers within the combine, he mentioned. The Dr. Max system additionally contains guide “fall again” for selecting gadgets when the robotic struggles.

“After we begun on this path 4 years in the past, if somebody purchased 50 piece-picking robots, it might have been practically not possible,” mentioned Zizka. “We’ve efficiently automated strolling and selecting, proving that Autopicker is eligible for bigger offers.”

Autopicker can pull particular person SKUs for buyer achievement in a pharmacy warehouse. | Credit score: Brightpick

Autopicker begins with e-grocery, pharma

Brightpick mentioned its cell manipulators may reliably choose ambient and chilled groceries, packaged items, cosmetics, electronics, medical units, polybagged attire, and extra. It claimed that Autopicker takes simply weeks to deploy and that it allows corporations to scale back their selecting labor by 98% and to chop selecting prices by half.

The corporate is specializing in e-grocery and prescription drugs as its first two markets, mentioned Zizka. “Sooner or later, pharmacies will probably be extra like micro-fulfillment facilities, and robotics may very well be one of many keys to that,” he mentioned.

The Robotic Report Podcast just lately featured Zizka as a visitor. In that interview, he mentioned how the concept for the Autopicker got here collectively for Brightpick. Practically a yr in the past, the corporate introduced Autopicker and closed a $19 million spherical to assist its U.S. enlargement.

Editor’s notice: Eugene Demaitre contributed to this text.