Pandemic pushes warehouse robot vendors to partner with system integrators

A flurry of autonomous mobile robot (AMR) vendors and system integrators have stayed busy this week building combined solutions to support the spikes in e-commerce orders for certain products that have emerged even as the the coronavirus pandemic continues to trigger a recession across multiple sectors of the global economy.

In three separate deals, robot makers announced they would team with integrators to supply material handling automation systems, saying their products could offer innovative warehouse technologies to meet the dramatically increasing demand for e-commerce fulfillment:

• Wilmington, Massachusetts-based Locus Robotics today unveiled a strategic partnership with Balloon One, a London-based provider of software and supply chain applications for distribution, manufacturing and e-commerce companies,
• yesterday, the Chinese AMR vendor Geek+ announced a distribution partnership with Kuecker Logistics Group (KLG), a material handling systems integrator located in Belton, Missouri, and
• and also today, Nashua, New Hampshire-based Waypoint Robotics and Cincinnati-based Advanced Handling Systems LLC (AHS) announced a systems integrator partnership.

The Covid-19 pandemic has quickly transformed the retail industry, making online and omnichannel purchasing the new normal across the globe, Locus said. The company says its robotics fulfillment solution enables brands, retailers, and third-party logistics (3PL) operators to meet higher order volumes and increasing consumer demand for e-commerce, retail, omnichannel, and manufacturing order fulfillment.

“As e-commerce continues to explode across all channels, warehouse fulfillment has become a critical part of the economy,” Locus CEO Rick Faulk said in a release. “Our partnership will deliver cutting-edge robotics technology to Balloon One customers and drive significant operational efficiency and productivity gains, and a faster time to value.”

Balloon One will now offer Locus’ multi-bot solution for warehouse fulfillment alongside Körber/HighJump warehouse management system (WMS) software, enabling customers to achieve consistent efficiency gains and address the challenges of the labor market, the firms said.

Likewise, Geek+ said its move would improve efficiency, provide flexibility, and reduce costs associated with warehouse and logistics operations, especially in regard to fast-growing industries, such as e-commerce and online retail. “We look forward to working together to offer our customers a flexible and robust portfolio of technologically advanced robotics solutions for logistics, and recognize the ability of Geek+ to design and build systems that, not only bring advantages of increased throughput and storage capacity, but reduces the overall reliance on labor, mitigating against various warehousing costs and logistics bottlenecks,” Jim Kuecker, vice president of Systems at KLG, said in a release.

• To see further coverage of the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the logistics industry, check out our Covid-19 landing page. 
• And click here for our compilation of virus-focused websites and resource pages from around the supply chain sector.

We are excited to announce our new partnership with @AHS_LLC, a full service integrator of world-class #fulfillment & #distribution solutions. Full press release here: https://t.co/6euKBbCuL7 #robotics #supplychain #integrator #partner

— Waypoint Robotics (@waypointrobo) July 29, 2020