- Title: Giant shelf-scanning robot brings AI to warehouse stocktaking
- Date: 18th April 2024
- Summary: DERBY, ENGLAND UK (APRIL 15, 2024) (Reuters) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FERGUS WHINHAM, MAERSK UK&I, SAYING: "No, I don't think it's replacing humans. I think the reality is, if you take what the core case behind it is, which is understanding your inventory and validating your inventory on a daily basis, that requires people and it requires equipment. And the big challenge becomes in peak periods where volume becomes massively important, are those people and equipment still available to do the work. So that started our journey in how we did that. But actually the reality is we haven't replaced because we're not doing a like for like; we're not giving a customer once a month we count your stock as maybe the requirement. We're doing it every day. So we're not replacing something, we're actually enhancing it. And that means that for our colleagues it's positive. Because when they go to a location, they have faith that the location has the product in it. Therefore, they see the benefit of working alongside the robot and it becomes a positive influence on the working environment."
- Embargoed: 2nd May 2024 13:13
- Keywords: AI AI robot Dexory Maersk artificial intelligence giant robot shelf-scanning robot
- Location: WALLINGFORD & DERBY, ENGLAND UK
- City: WALLINGFORD & DERBY, ENGLAND UK
- Country: UK
- Topics: Europe,Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA00A551616042024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: UK-based Dexory has developed giant autonomous robots to patrol warehouses and use artificial intelligence (AI) to scan its surroundings.
The robots in Dexory's system use machine learning and computer vision to capture millions of data points across multiple warehouse sites each day. The data is processed by the company's digital twin platform, DexoryView, to build up a detailed 3D model of the warehouse to offer real-time insights and predictive analytics.
And in today's mega-warehouses, the Dexory's robot has a neat trick to help it reach even the highest shelves - it can extend upwards to give it a height of about 12.5 meters (41 ft.)
"They're the world's tallest autonomous robots," Dexory's co-founder and CEO, Andrei Danescu.
"They have a number of cameras, they have a number of laser measurement systems on them. And this gives them the ability to create a digital copy of the rack and really understand how goods are being kept."
The company says a single battery-powered robot can scan warehouses of 1 million square feet in size and over 100,000 pallets in a day; returning autonomously to its charging station when needed.
The robots are designed to detect and address issues automatically, such as damaged stock and infrastructure damage. They are also equipped with sensor technology that allows for environmental monitoring, tracking critical factors like temperature, humidity, and gas levels, ensuring goods are stored under optimal conditions.
"The artificial intelligence that we embed inside the device allows it to operate without any kind of intervention required. So it will go around forklifts, it will seamlessly navigate in busy warehouses," said Danescu.
"We can offer immediate actions that you can take to run the space to make the warehouse more efficient."
A.P. Moller - Maersk, the global shipping and logistics company, partnered with Dexory in January 2023 to optimise warehouse management in the UK.
Fergus Whinham, from Maersk, said the Dexory platform provided a unified system for Maersk, offering real-time data and predictive analytics for improved inventory management and operations, including labor-intensive stock checks, and enhanced safety.
"The main benefit is a single source of the truth," said Whinham.
"It's far too easy to have lots of data and get lost in the world of how do I interpret this? And the really clever part of what they've delivered for us is that ability for us to drop in in different ways."
Whinham said that the robot is used in all of Maersk's UK locations and is now being rolled out into some European locations.
And he added that the rise of robots in warehouse monitoring did not come at a cost to the human worker.
"No, I don't think it's replacing humans," he said, adding: "We're not replacing something, we're actually enhancing it. And that means that for our colleagues it's positive."
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