Automation Drives the Next Generation of 3PL Fulfillment

As automation continues to advance, it also continues to make its way into many warehouses and distribution centers around the globe. Automation drives third party logistics (3PL) with robotics to increase efficiency. As the year moves along, many of the e-commerce dc’s will be fully recovered from the onslaught of the holidays. This is because the holidays can cause an influx of orders that are not normally seen.

When this happens, retail orders are known to jump as high as 20%.

An Evolution of Automation

In distribution centers across America, automation drives 3PL is not only seen among the conveyor systems. Other innovative solutions also exist in the next-generation of supply chains. These include auto-guided vehicles, pick/put-to-light, wearables, voice-directed technology, robotic applications, and radio frequency identification scanning. After radiofrequency identification scanning showed up during World War II, it was only utilized as a form of laser and telecommunications technology.

It didn’t start making headway until the 21 st century when the technology was seen as affordable and easy to use in handheld applications. During the early 2000s advancement turned the technology into voice-activated systems, and hands- free RFID technology. Robotics, on the other hand, didn’t get introduced to manufacturing until 1961. This was when Unimation brought it to General Motors as a new assembly robot.

Ever since the early days, the implementation of robotics has remained focused on manufacturing. Today, however, many vision-guided robots have been introduced to distribution centers. Their main task is to perform retrieval putaway functions, loading/unloading, goods-to-person application, and pallet stacking.

The advancement in robotics has grown so much that installations that use robotics had grown by 11% in 2014. According to the International Federation of Robots, an annual 15% growth rate is expected to happen globally. Over the last five years Amazon has been the leader in 3pl fulfillment by using robotic technology and applications.

By 2016, Amazon had increased their robotic applications by 16,000.

Leading the Way

So when it comes to warehouse automation who is leading the way? With it trending rapidly among certain industries, it still lacks in the global market.

As reported by the International Federation of Robots, only 70% of global sales were achieved by robots in five countries. These countries
included:

  • United States
  • China
  • South Korea
  • Germany
  • Japan

According to omnichannel e-tailing growth rates, many 3pl fulfillment centers have begun to meet the market demand for both next-day and same-day delivery, with high emphasis during the holiday season.

Take control of your freight with an Asset-Based 3PL Logistics Trucking Company that can assure you transparency from the port to your destination nationwide, request a free quote today and discover your asset-based logistics solution.

Author

  • Luis Lopez

    Mr. Luis Lopez is a serial entrepreneur who sets the standards in logistics from South Florida to the world. Founder of one of the fastest-growing companies in the US, ranked by INC 5000 Magazine.

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