Chapter 11 - Opening Case -Robots to the Rescue Flashcards
What are autonomous mobile robots?
- Capable of understanding and moving autonomously within their environments.
- Employs artificial intelligence to travel autonomously and handle goods of various sizes and shapes.
What are the advantages of implementing autonomous mobile robots to warehouses? (7 points)
- Highly proficient at performing repetitive operations such as sorting, picking, and putting products where they belong, enhancing inventory management.
- Reduce high labour costs, robots never get sick, stay home to care for children, they can be moved in and out of production with no need to hire, train, and lay off employees.
- Improved workplace safety. Monotonous tasks create mental and physical fatigue, reducing productivity and increasing the risk of injury. Robots can alleviate mental stress by reducing the chance of errors and enabling humans to focus on more fruitful tasks like quality and safety.
- Accurately and quickly deliver parts and tools to the skilled workers who need them.
- Handle potentially dangerous materials, eliminating the risk to human workers.
- Take over time consuming repetitive tasks to relieve pressure on human workers.
- Can avoid supply chain congestion by quickly and safely moving goods and clearing backlogged items.
How did the autonomous mobile robots operate in the past?
They could only stick to predefined paths and do specific repetitive tasks.
Describe the initial situation that the COVID-19 pandemic created
In 2020 when the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world came to a halt. People worked from home or were unemployed, the items people needed shifted to at home items like toilet paper, and these supplies were limited, and the manufacturers were unable to work. This shows the global supply chain faces many issues with no clear cut solution.
What was China’s response to the pandemic.
Everyone needed gowns, masks, gloves, hand sanitizers thus they bumped up production, however did this not solve the issue as the main problem as global shipping, as shipping containers were unevenly distributed throughout the world.
What was the issue with the shipping containers and the nature of the pandemic?
The shipping containers were scattered throughout the world, and due to lockdown procedures and policies many shipping containers and ships were stuck unable to get the container to the port, and then ship it out to the stores as ports were backlogged and at max capacity as there were not enough workers.
What did the COVID-19 Pandemic reveal? What was the result by 2022?
A shift in the global supply chain can have a great effect on the global commerce. Many items were in short supply like for, backups cameras, carbon dioxide for beer, baby formula, and tampons.
What are the factors that affected the overall situation of the pandemic?
Labour shortages as manufacturing workers prefer to work in office locations, as warehouse work is monotonous, tiring, dirty, and dangerous, thus robots are used to try and solve this problem.
What is the difference between the way robots were used in the past vs the way they are used now?
Robotics were used for conveyor belts, scanner, and similar innovations but the technology augmented human activity through this hybrid system. Modern hybrid systems have it so humans augment the technology.
What is the overall goal of robotics?
Create an operations were robots are capable of replacing humans. Since robots are not subject to fatigue, illness, or injury, and do not demand benefits or unions. It is easy to update the software for training however, the benefits are not expected to arise for many years to come.
- What is BlueWeave Consulting?
- What did they estimate?
- A consulting firm that focuses on providing data analytics and market intelligence.
- Global ARM will increase steadily due to the increase of e-commerce.
AMR = 2.37 billion in 2021 will turn into 9.5 billion by 2028.
- How did Loblaws implement technology to assist them during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- What was the technological solution to the issue that Loblaws was facing?
- What is the Center that Loblaws introduced?
- One of the first companies to offer its customers the ability to order online and pick up groceries the same day, and the number of online orders was incredibly high.
- Introducing a Micro fulfillment enters with Takeoff Technologies.
- Automation and fulfillment solution within a space in an existing storefront that uses a robotic racking system along with a cloud and AI technology to pick up, store, and fulfill orders.
Describe the process that is undertaken by Takeoff in a Loblaws store that implements this solution
- Based on the products order it may go between manual and automated pickup.
- The automated facility brings the automated portion of the order to a human employee.
- Once all the items are picked up, the order goes to a staging area, where it is reviewed, and stored in a frozen, chilled, room temperature zone.
- Overall it helped to improve the efficiency of the fulfillment process.
How has Husdson Bay implementing robotics and technology in its functions?
- When an order is received at the facility, the warehouse management system communicates with the warehouse control system about the items on the order.
- The control system automates material handling equipment.
- Order fulfillment process at the Hudson’s bay fulfillment facility begins with cartons being erected automatically, while the robotic goods to person system assigns robots to deliver the ordered items to the operator.
- By the time the cartons arrive at the automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) workstations through a conveyor system, the AR/RS has picked and delivered the right products.
- Human operators take the product out of the carrier, put it in the carton, and confirm it with the system through the use of lights.
- When an order it complete it travels on conveyors to shipping, and receives documents from a robotic print and insert system.
- As the weight is checked it is given a shipping label and sorted onto the carrier, it takes only 15 mins from the receipt of an order to a shipment being packed and sent out for delivery.
What are Robots as a Service?
Allow organizations to support shifts to their supply chain, providing scalability and reliability on conditions change rapidly. There is no capital expenditures as they are treated as operating expenses. It uses a cloud based architect and thus can be employed within weeks, providing resilience in an unpredictable landscape.
