Dive Brief:
- GXO Logistics has partnered with robotics developer Dexterity to pilot AI-enhanced robotics to streamline warehouse operations for a beauty brand.
- The pilot combines robotics with artificial intelligence and machine learning to de-palletize, label and re-palletize packages, according to a February news release.
- ”Because these smart robots utilize AI, they require virtually no instructions or setup prior to implementation, and they self-train on the job, improving their performance with every pick,” the release said.
Dive Insight:
The critical need for a better level of warehouse efficiency in a “tougher environment” is what is driving the need for automation across nearly every vertical, Chief Strategy Officer Neil Shelton told Supply Chain Dive in an interview.
When volume growth is declining, as seen through the second half of 2023, “that’s quite often a catalyst for a company to turn around and look at its operations and the problems of supply chain challenges, wage inflation and supply chain inflation on the whole,” Shelton said.
The AI packaging pilot is an example “of where AI is driving a piece of automation technology to perform at a much higher ROI or level of performance,” said Shelton. “And it’s not just in packaging activities, we’re seeing an AI overlay for an awful lot of automation.”
While it is unclear what beauty brand GXO is piloting the Dexterity robotics for, the warehouse logistics company works with clients like Avon and Glossier.
The trial is part of the warehouse logistics company’s push to pilot solutions that boost productivity and workforce management.
GXO has been exploring AI applications for several of its clients, including a proof-of-concept pilot for Agility Robotics’ human-like robot “Digit,” which is currently being tested at Spanx’s facility in Georgia, according to a Dec. 6 press release.
Earlier in October, GXO inked an agreement with Eddie Bauer to optimize warehouse operations, which includes a fully automated 385,000-square-foot facility expected to be complete in the first half of this year, per a press release. The automated site will deploy autobagger packing machines and a totes-to-person picking solution using GreyOrange technology.
In July, GXO piloted a 3D sortation system where more than a dozen 3D sortation robots were programmed to feed 30 trolleys with more than 450 destination bins, according to a press release.
GXO plans for more of the AI enabled applications going forward.
“It’s not so much any one specific piece of technology, but rather the integration of numerous technologies to create an end-to-end product through the sites.”
