Agility Robotics recently released the latest version of their humanoid warehouse robot: Digit.
Digit is 5 foot 9, weighs 141 lbs, and can carry up to 35 pounds. It can pick and pack orders, unload trucks, and unpack pallets of shipments. Warehouse labor availability is always a challenge, and it usually represents 65 – 70 percent of operating costs. Automation is the future of warehouse operations. Period.
And yet not all automation is the same. Conveyor belts and robotic arms are a far cry from Digit and even the Amazon warehouse robots. The upfront cost, time to ROI, and impact on human working conditions all have to be considered as we approach the future.
In this episode of Dial P for Procurement, Kelly Barner talks about:
- The dream of “dark” warehousing and the challenges that have to be overcome before the practice becomes a common reality
- The different levels of human <> technology collaboration that are often lumped together into the term “automation”
- What society and supply chain professionals need to be thinking about as we unpack Industry 5.0… the collaboration of humans and machines
