Fulfyld, a 3PL specializing in labor-intensive e-commerce fulfillment, is equipping an Alabama warehouse with the latest in robotics.
inVia Robotics will install a full warehouse execution system (WES) and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) system in Fulfyld’s Huntsville, Alabama, warehouse. The system will include inVia’s PickerWall, inVia Logic software and the inVia Robotics Operation Center (ROC) that provides 24/7 monitoring and support.
The PickerWall features a fleet of Picker AMRs that retrieve individual SKUs and deliver them to the inVia put-and-pick wall where humans finish building e-commerce orders.
inVia Robotics “ideal for e-commerce”
“inVia’s RaaS model is ideal for e-commerce fulfillment 3PLs like ours because it allows us to avoid large [capital expenditures], which ultimately helps Fulfyld deliver better pricing to customers,” said AJ Khanijow, CEO of Fulfyld.
Fulfyld has e-commerce integrations with all the major firms, including Shopify, Amazon, Magento, eBay, Walmart and BigCommerce. The Huntsville-based company was founded in 2016, but unlike some 3PLs, Fulfyld handles only e-commerce.
“[inVia Robotics] also extends our operations resources, not only by supplementing our workforce with robots, but also by finding greater efficiencies in our workflows so our teams can work smarter,” said Spencer Mundt, COO of Fulfyld. “We looked at all of the automation solutions on the market, and only inVia delivered the level of flexibility and productivity increases we needed for the level of service we’re committed to giving our customers.”
Automation reduces steps for warehouse workers
inVia said that using its automation solutions can reduce the distances walked by warehouse workers and improve productivity as much as fivefold. Its solutions are offered through a robotics-as-a-solution subscription basis, helping hold down upfront costs.
“We’ve specifically designed our system to increase productivity in e-commerce operations where more labor is required to ship directly to consumers,” said Lior Elazary, CEO and co-founder of inVia Robotics. “As consumer demands for next- or same-day delivery increase and labor supplies decrease, we’re able to help 3PLs keep up and meet their SLAs.”
inVia offers goods-to-person robots that utilize AI to more intelligently leverage existing labor in warehouses. Elazary previously told Modern Shipper that a lack of knowledge still hampers the adoption of automation solutions — which is likely in use in less than 10% of existing warehouses — including the belief that robots are taking jobs from humans.
“I think really it is education,” he said. “What happens right now is there are a lot of different systems out there … and a lot of our customers really don’t understand our system — a goods-to-person system.”
What is a goods-to-person robot?
A goods-to-person robot is designed to bring items to people for packing. inVia’s system uses robots to retrieve items and bring them to a picking wall that humans can then access to pack the final order. inVia said this system increases throughput between five- and tenfold, and picking rates can increase to 400 units per hour per person, with peaks up to 1,200 units per hour per person.
“What we’ve done is shrunk that whole warehouse,” Elazary said. Employees in this system are more productive and spend less time walking warehouse floors looking for items.
Click for more articles by Brian Straight.
You may also like:
Drones are flying into weather data deserts. Can they be stopped?
Navigating COVID-19 shipping chaos: Finding capacity and servicing the customer
