Fulfillment Automation: What’s Driving Adoption and How It’s Changing Operations

Q. Automation in the fulfillment center landscape is erupting at incredible speed. What’s driving it?

A. There have been huge advancements in robotics and automation over the past decade. The same technology we’re seeing in self-driving cars has entered our industry. Similarly, venture capitalists have fueled the growth by investing in emerging robotic companies and technologies that specialize in fulfillment. When coupling the new technologies not previously available with the continued need to mitigate labor woes in the fulfillment center, the climate is ripe for massive growth.

Q. How do you view the future of fulfillment?

A. We will continue to see new technologies emerge at an aggressive pace; however their focus will be more specific. Similarly, their span of expertise will remain specific to a function in the overall process. Success will be determined not so much by the automation or technology itself but how well they’re integrated into an operation. Those who are investing in a scalable and flexible workflow software platform will achieve success earlier than others.

Q. How is VARGO® leveraging automation and software to change the game for its clients?

A. The key to applying new levels of automation in the fulfillment center is to take a holistic approach and start with the basics of redefining the full operational process. Particular attention must be paid to how all resources (both machines and people) interact with the new processes.

At VARGO® we start with the end in mind and work our way backward, defining how people and automation will work together to accomplish the highest levels of efficiency. Our largest differential in how we select and integrate automation is our COFE® Warehouse Execution System (WES). We have successfully doubled productivity and doubled throughput simply by using our WES and capitalizing on automation capacity.

Q. What opportunities do you see with these new automation technologies?

A. Some brilliant people are behind these new technologies and that is why their products are making a positive impact. However, we see a large gap in how they are applied. We need real-world experience from the operators and supervisors in the fulfillment center. We need more focus on the entire operation, not the silo where automation plays.

Q. What are some of the success factors VARGO® focuses on to measure your solutions?

A. With more and more silos of automation and managing labor around those silos, we look at the overall building flow. We often see a 2x multiplier in the efficiency of manual productivity. We also benchmark the utilization of machines, and we look to achieve 90% or better of their full capability. At the end of the day, we do more with less. Automation often comes at a price so making efficient use of it results in requiring less of it. To date our solutions set standards on manual labor rates, efficiency of automation, and have some of the lowest order cycle times in the industry.