How Robots Are Doing Your Online Shopping As Grocers Leverage Digital Technology In Warehouse…

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a growth in online shopping and the influx of online sales resulted in businesses turning to technology to meet consumer demands. The grocery industry continues to see a transformation as companies increasingly use warehouse automation in the competitive landscape of eCommerce.

Leveraging advancements in digital technology, the grocery sector has seen an accelerating rise in eGrocery with the capabilities to optimise operations with improvements in efficiency and accuracy to deliver customer satisfaction.

Ocado is an independent online grocer that saw profits soar amidst the pandemic as a unique online food retailer and industry leader in customer service utilising technology and automation to meet the challenges of online food shopping. With lockdowns and isolation many consumers turned to online shopping.

Ocado’s competitive edge in eCommerce is owing to its Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) which leverages technology and the power of artificial intelligence (AI) robotics and automation.

According to the Ocado group, their technology has over 2400 patents approved and are at the forefront with pioneering software and hardware engineering.

ECommerce

• The personalisation of consumer demands with tailor made features.

Fulfilment

• Fulfilment Centres are responsible for making processes more efficient by tracking the health of bots and controlling the packaging of orders with minimal use of bags and without product damage.

Supply Chain

• Here heightened forecasting engines make predictions about demand, minimising waste and expanding accessibility of fresh produce.

Last Mile

• The Last Mile system makes calculations of efficient driving routes to ensure optimal delivery to consumers with the consideration of order weight and volume and road conditions and speed.

Ocado’s Robotic technology is a combination of computer vision, deep reinforcement learning and advanced sensing to enable the automation of the selection and packaging process.

Smart decisions are made by robotic arms regarding the packaging of groceries without previous or future knowledge of the following products.

The Hive is where customer orders are processed and is considered to be the heart of the Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC). A 3D storage grid holds thousands of grocery products and is operated by a fleet of bots.

The fleet of bots is controlled by an AI version of an air traffic control system. To ensure maximal performance there is communication with bots 10 times per second and the bots move at speeds of 4 metres per second to transport containers of grocery products to be packaged manually or by robotic arms.

Orders of 50 items can be picked in only five minutes through the Hive robotic technology.

Target

• Is investing in warehouse automation, specifically sortation centers, to strengthen their supply chain capabilities.
• Aiming to make improvements in their order fulfilment processes as to its accuracy and speed.
• The company is aiming to invest $100 million, by the close of 2026, in its supply chain sortation network to upward of 15 places and offer next day delivery in significant areas in the United States.

Walmart

• To fuel soaring profits, the company has been leveraging warehouse automation by combining advanced automation technologies like autonomous robots and artificial intelligence.
• Their aim is to improve efficiency in supply chain operations and minimise labour and logistics costs.
• It is expected that two thirds of its retail locations will be automated.

Amazon

• Globally the largest manufacturer of industrial robots, Amazon leverages the newest AI, machine learning (ML) and computer vision to ensure operations are safe through state-of- -the art technologies.
• The company is globally using 750,000 mobile robots to process customer orders and worldwide 75 per cent of these orders are delivered using robots.
• Robin, a robotic system, has sorted over two billion packages across their operations network. The upgrade Sparrow robotic system can detect, select, and move individual products before packaging.
• Reduce the cost of operations for instance employees administration and training.
• Be sustainable by reducing waste through minimal operations costs, leading to lower energy consumption and a smaller carbon footprint.
• Provide customer satisfaction to maintain loyalty and meet consumer demands.

Advantages

• Minimise mistake rates as automated systems improve human accuracy.
• Improve productivity as warehouse tasks are time-consuming and repetitive for employees.
• Reduce the cost of operations through minimal employee administration and training costs.
• Be sustainable through reduced operations costs leading to lower energy consumption and a smaller carbon footprint.
• Provide customer satisfaction to maintain loyalty and meet consumer demands.

Disadvantages

• The cost of maintenance, as robots require regular repair, a specialised professional will be needed.
• A disruption in operations due to the reliance on technology, with robot malfunctions, which can lead to revenue losses.
• Unemployment concern for displaced workers.
• Investment in automation is expensive as well as ongoing maintenance costs.
• Security risks as the robotic system is vulnerable to potential cyber threats.