Have you ever imagined a warehouse in the form of a video game, consisting of an army of speed cars rushing their way off on the raging roads? You probably haven't, but automation has turned this imagination into reality. In recent years, Sorting Robots have emerged as one of the finest sortation solutions in the automation and distribution space.
Industries with short delivery cycles and high delivery volumes, should follow this new trend to optimise their operational efficiency. This will help them to remain competitive in the fast-paced environment where transactions happen with the click of a button on a tablet.
The sorting robot system has gained widespread acceptance in the logistics industry, transforming it from a labour-intensive sector into a realm of batch intelligence.
Currently, the Indian e-commerce industry is valued at $200 billion and is expected to grow to $1.2 trillion by 2021, according to a report by Deloitte India and the Retailers Association of India (RAI). At this pace, it would entail one lakh deliveries per day for an average logistics or e-commerce warehouse. This tremendous demand necessitates a unique solution, and the sorting robot is a gem that fits the bill. Now, let’s delve deeper into how it functions.
How Does Sorting Robot Work?
As mentioned earlier, sorting robots are a fleet of fast-moving robots that employ collision avoidance technology to perform route-wise sorting operations by reading barcodes in their operating area. The process is entirely automated, ensuring safety, efficiency, and accuracy.
Operators place parcels on the automated sorting robot, which carries the parcels through a portal frame, reads the order information, automatically weighs the parcel, and displays all the necessary information on the operator interface system.
The fleet management system coordinates and controls this fleet of robots, assigning them the most optimized delivery paths based on the algorithm used.
These robots use auto-detection of obstacles to avoid collisions during the sorting operation. When the sorting robot reaches its destination, it stops and pushes the parcel onto a sorting bin (chute). The parcel falls into the sorting bin, concluding the sorting operation. The number of sorting bins can vary based on the volume of operations.
Benefits of Sorting Robots
Previously, the system processed 450 parcels per hour through entirely manual labor. With the addition of sorting robots, it has revolutionized to sort 20,000 parcels per hour with greater accuracy. Here are some added benefits of this sortation solution:
- Continuous loading and unloading of parcels increase the number of cycles per hour in the inventory function, eliminating errors and boosting productivity.
- The absence of an operator inside the storage lanes allows for rapid sorting operations, saving a significant amount of time. Hypothetically, the total number of calculations completed by this automated system in ten minutes is equivalent to the daily take-off and landing operations at an international airport.
- The sorting robot system is fully automatic, reducing manual dependency and errors by 80% compared to traditional sorting work.
- With reduced human dependency, this automated sortation solution ensures the safety of operations.
- The system is highly flexible, allowing for easy handling of increased or decreased operational volumes by adjusting the number of robots in an existing setup.
- Installation time is significantly reduced compared to a conventional sortation system.
The deployment of sorting robots reduces the need for manual sorting operations. Today, automation is becoming prevalent in various industries, and sorting is a major task at hand. By harnessing this technology, sorting operations can become significantly more efficient and effective.
There are various sorting robots available in the market that can make your sorting process accurate and automated. Addverb is one such solution provider whose sorting robots operate at an efficiency rate of 20,000 picks per hour. To learn how sorting robots can benefit your warehouse, contact us today.
