robotic picking strategies for e-commerce … piece picking success stories_kumar.pdfcarts by...
TRANSCRIPT
ROBOTIC PICKING STRATEGIES FOR E-COMMERCE FULFILLMENT
DHL Supply Chain
Robotics & AI Summit, Boston
Presented by: Adrian Kumar, Vice President, DHL Supply Chain
June 19th, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
2
Agenda
• DSC Digitization Initiative
• E-Commerce Profile
• Robotic Picking
• Swarming Deep Dive
• Automated Picking
• Conclusions
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
3
DSC Digitalization Initiative
DHL is actively driving a Digitalization agenda from assessing promising
concepts to industrializing innovation
• Digitalization is changing the face of logistics,
our customers are increasingly looking to help
them navigate this fast evolving technological
landscape.
• Trend communities have been formed with
SME‘s across the business, these
communities are categorized into: Physical
Objects, Communication, Data Analysis and
Enabling Technologies
• Today will talk about some of the work taking
place in warehouse robotics and AGV trend
community (Adrian Kumar – trend
Champion)
BLOCKCHAIN
SUPPLY CHAIN
VISIBILITY
AUTONOMOUS &
AUTOMATED
GUIDED
VEHICLES
ROBOTICS
PROCESS
AUTOMATION
IOT &
WEARABLES
3D PRINTING
MOBILE
TECHNOLOGY
DIGITAL INFRA-
STRUCTURE
AUGMENTED &
VIRTUAL
REALITY
UAV/DRONES
TRANSPORT
OPTIMIZATION
ANALYTICS/
BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE
PHYSICAL
INFRA-
STRUCTURE
SOLUTION
CENTRIC
SUPPLY
CHAINS
WAREHOUSE
ROBOTICS
WAREHOUSE
OPTIMIZATION
MACHINE
LEARNING
DIGITAL
SECURITY
DSC
Digitalization
Agenda
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
4
E-commerce Warehouse
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
5
Office Supplies
Paper clips Post-it notes USB drives File folders
Back to School
Gym shorts Spiral notebooks Backpack Penny loafers
Household Purchases
Clothes Paper towels Gloves Cleaning wipes
Typical E-Commerce Order
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
6
E-commerce operations have a challenging profile, small order
quantities, large number of SKUs, rapid turn times
Manual Operations
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
Manual cart solution usually involve picking multiple
orders at a time by pushing the cart through the
aisles, picking the required items and sorting to the
corresponding order on. Assignments begins at the
cart-prep station and end at the pack-out area.
OVERVIEW DEMONSTRATION
Benefits Low capital cost
Flexible solution
Challenges Productivity challenges and congestion
Limited by WMS on order grouping and pick-
path. Long travel paths
Long cycle time
BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES
CONFIDENTIAL
7
Manual Operations
Conventional pick instructions are usually communicated via an RF Gun,
requiring the user to have a certain amount of familiarity with the
environment
• The RF Gun is a flexible piece of equipment, used for multiple functions thus requires
set up time for each task, sometimes > 10 input fields are required
• Picking requires the user to understand a slot location numbering convention, usually an
alpha numberic code, not necessarily easy for off the street associates
• A considerable amount of time is spent interacting with the pick assist device
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
8
80% 20%
Manual
Operations
Mechanized /
Automated
• Manual cart picking is the
predominant method used in
piece picking operations
• While larger operations can
justify mechanization /
automation options
• Smaller to mid size operation
can enhance cart picking
through various options to drive
efficiencies
Traditional Warehouse Automation
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
9
Traditional Warehouse Automation
• Traditional warehouse
automation often requires its
own infrastructure for:
1. Storage
2. Movement
3. Systems
• Often appropriate for larger
installs where profile is known
and set
• Automation with out
infrastructure opens the space
up to more operations
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
10
Why Robotics?
In the warehouse, picking is the most important function in fulfilling an order. But unit picking – handling
individual items – is labor intensive. And today, 3 factors are driving companies to seek out more
intelligent picking methods to drive efficiency and reduce costs.
The answer? Mobile collaborative robots that can
fit to existing infrastructure without costly
investment and major structural change,
with free-form navigation.
The supply chain
talent gap is making
labor harder to find.
2
With the rise of eCommerce
customers expect faster
deliveries – making unit picking
even more labor intensive.
1
Companies need
flexible solutions –
without large
investment.
3
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
11
Robotic Picking Strategies - Cart Solutions
Follow-me carts remove the need for pickers to push
carts by following them as they work.
Lead-me carts remove the need for a pick assist
device, leading the pickers to the next location with
the navigational guidance and pick task information.
Each robot then travels automatically to the pack-out area, and the picker is met
by the next robot ready for picking.
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
12
Robotic Picking Strategies - Zone-Based Solutions
Swarming robots carry an
order tote and travel to the
location the order needs an
item from. The pickers pick
items to the robots that arrive
in their zones via a display,
keeping them completely
hands free.
Retrieval robots bring items by bin to the picker at the put-station.
The picker takes the items and transfers them to the order tote. The
robot then takes the bin back to storage, and retrieves the next item
needed.
Shuttle robots move order totes from
one zone to the next, as the order is
fulfilled. The pickers stay in their
zones with pick assist devices, picking
to the order totes that arrive in their
zones.
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
13
Robot Picking Strategies
Expensive Programed Caged and
Fixed Expensive Programed
• One order picker sees
through the entire order(s)
assigned to them from
start to finish
• Pick cart design can vary,
depending on the order
profile it is targeted for
PICKING CART SOLUTION
• An order picker is assigned to a
specifically defined zone in a
pick area and responsible for all
the orders required an item in
the zone
• Often enabled by conveyors
ZONE BASED SOLUTION
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
Robotic Picking Strategies
CONFIDENTIAL
14
Robot Picking Strategies - Demonstration
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
15
Robotic Picking Strategies - Summary
Various robotic picking strategies discussed have different
trade offs with respect to operating vs capital costs. In
general, higher capital results in higher productivity but at a
diminishing rate
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
16
Swarming Approach
• Leverages WMS and works in
a ‘task to person’ manner
- User friendly
- Works within existing
infrastructure
- Scalable
• Middleware supports zone,
cluster and batching strategies
common in e-fulfillment
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
17
Swarming Approach - Maneuverability & Autonomy
Multiple
robots in
same
aisle can
“leapfrog”
each
other
Two-way
navigation
allows
two
opposing
robots to
pass
Ability to turn
around and
switch
direction
shortens
travel
distances
Robots
autonomously
maneuver
around people
and obstacles
instead of
waiting
Robots
autonomously
re-plan their
path if the
optimal path is
blocked
One-
Way
option
is much
longer
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
18
Swarming Approach - Communication
Provides associates with the ability to determine the closest robots based upon proximity to
enhance productivity.
Where are the
robots? Check
the on the top of
your pick
screen!
Real time color indicator
reflects the status of the
robots:
– blue all traveling,
- Green at least 1 pickable
bot.
Optional robots location
grid, red marker is current
location
Shows the
closest aisles &
robots
In this case:
pickable bots in
NJ, NH, ND,
NC, MD
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
19
Swarming Approach – Order Cycle Time
• Order cycle time is an increasing critical metric
• Typical order cycle time in batch pick
operations modeled at 4+ hours from waving to
shipping
• Swarming solutions have the potential to
reduce the order cycle time due to the
following factors:
– Orders are cluster picked, thus eliminating
consolidation touches with batch picking
– Assignments have only 3 orders on them,
resulting in faster turn times
– Optimized clustering of ‘like’ orders,
minimizing the travel
• Est cycle time (from waving to loading), for
orders handled by Locus modeled at <2 hours
a 50%+ reduction Key touches eliminated with
Locus vs batch picking
Cycle time reduced by
more than half versus
conventional picking
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
20
Sorting Robots
• Robotic solutions can also be an alternative for traditional conveyor, sortation
equipment
• These solutions reduce the cost of entry for traditional sortation equipment
and similar to collaborative piece picking robots have advantages in terms of
scalability
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
21
Sorting Robots
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
• Sorting robots are not constrained but a linear flow, induction points can be
interspersed with sortation points, providing the opportunity to minimize travel
CONFIDENTIAL
22
Sorting Robots
CONFIDENTIAL
23
Automated Robotic Picking
• The complexity associated with sorting and
picking through scattered items of varying
weight, size and orientation is extremely
challenging to automate
• Practical solutions are still at their infancy,
but results from the Amazon Picking
Challenge show exponential annual
improvements
Year/Item 2015 2016 2017
Winner RBO Delft ACRV
Pick Rate 40 100 120
Accuracy 77% 83% 94%
2015 - Team RBO 2016 - Team Delft 2017 - Team ACRV
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
24
Automated Robotic Picking
• Automating this final step requires robots that can
essentially think and draw on history for learnings
• Kindred, a San Francisco-based robotics and artificial
intelligence startup, is bringing its human-assisted
robotic arms and putwall “Sort” solution to companies
like GAP
• This is a unique approach as humans assist the robots
from central control rooms to help perform tasks the
machine is incapable of, while generating data for the
whole system to improve in the future (AI techniques)
• Over time algorithms should take over more and more
complex tasks.
• Also unique is the commercial arrangement, a pay-per-
intelligent action, which prices the use of the AI and
hardware combined. Tasks which require more
processing power, human intervention cost more
Kindred Sort putwall solution
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
25
Automated Robotic Picking
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
26
Conclusions
• DHL engaged in various digitization initiatives
• Advances in robotics supporting various warehouse pick
strategies
• DHL seeing significant productivity and cycle time
advantages associated with “swarming” approach
• Automated picking next evolution in robotics
“ Both humans and machines have their strengths. It
is up to us to combine them harmoniously and, in so
doing, make our world simpler, more flexible and
more livable.”
Frank Appel, CEO,
Deutsche Post DHL
Robotic Picking Strategies | June, 2018