The 50,000 figure represents a massive expansion of the market from the current situation in which an estimated 4,000 warehouses were found to be using robots in 2018.
In the early days of the 20th century, when the automobile was still a rare novelty, people riding in
animal-drawn conveyances would laugh when they saw one stuck by the side of the road. "Get a horse!", they would exclaim, and off they went secure in the knowledge that cars would never replace the horse. Hmm, that didn't age well. In 2019, we stand on the same cusp of history as we are watching the robot in all its various forms gradually replacing humans.
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Revelation 13:15 (KJV)
Robots are infiltrating society to such a degree that it is almost incomprehensible, and they are showing up just about everywhere. They don't get sick, they don't sleep, they don't take time off, and they don't get paid. In the video below from Amazon, you see a massive 100,000+ square foot warehouse handling tens of thousands of packages, and only 6 people on the floor. That's not just the future, that's right now. The future will be
a whole lot worse than that.
More than 4 million commercial robots will be installed in over 50,000 warehouses by 2025, according to a report by ABI Research.
FROM ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION NEWS: ABI says the
rapid rate of adoption will be driven by the need for flexible, efficient, and automated e-commerce fulfillment as same-day delivery becomes the norm.
Global adoption of warehouse robotics will also be spurred by the increasing affordability and return on investment of a growing variety of infrastructure-light robots as they are an attractive and versatile alternative to traditional fixed mechanical automation or manual operations.
Nick Finill, senior analyst at ABI Research, says: “Flexibility and efficiency have become primary differentiators in the e-commerce fulfillment market as retailers and third-party logistics companies struggle to cope with volatile product demand, seasonal peaks, and rising consumer delivery expectations.
“Robots enable warehouses to scale operations up or down as required while offering major efficiency gains and mitigating inherent challenges associated with labor and staffing.”
Automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots goods-to-person systems can directly replace heavier mechanized automation that typically requires massive upfront investment and rigid physical infrastructure.
Robots enable the optimization of space in expensive warehouse facilities and can reduce the need for new and costly greenfield fulfillment centers. Mobile robotic systems also offer major flexibility advantages.
Robot vendors, such as
Fetch,
Geek Plus Robotics, and
inVia, enable additional robots to be added to or removed from a fleet as operational demands require.
They also allow easy and relatively rapid reconfiguration of entire workflows and operations if product lines or fundamental operational requirements change. This is a major advantage in the unpredictable and dynamic e-commerce market, says ABI.
The researcher adds that, as a result of impressive innovation in computer vision, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and robotic mechanics, robots are also becoming increasingly adept at performing traditionally harder-to-automate tasks.
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