Seven Ways to Fulfill More Product from Fixed Facilities and Labor

Robotic Product Sortation autonomously picks, sorts, and packs millions of items per month with higher speed and throughput while increasing fulfillment by up to 2X – without adding labor

Retail store replenishment, eCommerce, and B2B fulfillment operations face continued pressure from the double whammy of escalating, unpredictable consumer demand and shrinking labor pools. Even the best automation is being put to the test as suppliers grapple with processing potentially infinite order volume and variety out of finite and fixed facility footprints. 

The solution is obvious but it’s been elusive: reliable autonomous automation for order fulfillment.

Berkshire Grey, a leader in AI-enabled robotic solutions that automate supply chain processes, closes this gap with Robotic Product Sortation (BG RPS) for order fulfillment. This high-capacity automation solution robotically picks, sorts, and packs individual items into outbound order containers without the need for operator interaction. 

To see how RPS transforms one of the more challenging fulfillment operations – retail store replenishment – see this infographic.)

Reimagining Product Sortation 

Berkshire Grey has taken some inspired approaches to get more product out of current fulfillment operations, which are limited by facility size, process complexity, and reliance on hard-to-find labor resources.  

BG RPS:

• Fulfills break pack orders autonomously
• Improves shipment capacity and container cube utilization by up to 10%
• Integrates order processing with automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) to maximize       the ROI from automation that’s designed primarily for storage
• Operates with maximum flexibility by combining and coordinating BG’s RPS processing with  operator-inducted BG Robotic Shuttle Product Sortation (BG RSPS) systems
• Supports configurable order container sizes and batches
• Installs into existing operations with a small footprint of less than 2,500 square feet
• Scales processing in an orchestrated fashion across multiple BG RPS systems

This next generation of BG RPS includes a unique dual wing design that increases speed by over 25% and doubles the simultaneous order processing capacity. This approach augments human labor to provide additional order processing capacity in existing operations and facilitates lights-out warehouse operations for suppliers looking to fully transform fulfillment operations. 

Currently deployed at multiple Fortune 100 retailers, RPS addresses some of the most labor-intensive processes BG customers face in their fulfillment operations. BG RPS systems easily integrate into existing operations to process growing eCommerce and less-than-case order volumes to help fulfillment operations overcome labor scarcity issues. The systems are compatible with the broadest range of products, packaging, and order types including health and beauty items, apparel, electronics, housewares, packaged food, childcare products, pet care, office supplies, toys, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and other general merchandise items.

Simply Scalable Fulfillment

Berkshire Grey’s RPS solution is a fully integrated system powered by BG’s core AI-enabled Software Platform, which underpins all of Berkshire Grey’s robotic automation solutions. The BG solution delivers best-in-class SKU coverage, real-time picking accuracy, and unparalleled autonomous throughput that enables distribution centers to double their order processing capacity without adding labor. The systems can be used as stand-alone modules, in conjunction with other advanced Berkshire Grey technologies, e.g., mobile robots, or integrated with leading ASRS solutions from multiple suppliers. The modular design allows enterprises to scale the number of simultaneously fulfilled orders into the thousands and the number of items robotically picked per week into the millions.  

Berkshire Grey’s portfolio of robotic pick and sort solutions also includes Robotic Package Sortation and Identification, Robotic Shuttle Put Walls, Robotic Shuttle Product Sortation, and Mobile Robotic Sortation and Fulfillment. Berkshire Grey’s automated solutions are modular, flexible, and available via Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) implementation models, allowing customers to accelerate the adoption of automation technology without upfront capital expenditures.

For more information about BG’s latest Robotic Product Sortation solution, visit here.

To learn more about Berkshire Grey and RPS, please visit BerkshireGrey.com and follow Berkshire Grey on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.