The Rise of Robotics: Companies to Watch Amid Rising Shifts to Automation

eadlines have been painting a bleak picture of high inflation, worsening leading economic indicators, a hawkish Federal Reserve and investor sentiment ranging from glum to “I need a month-long Netflix binge.” In addition, much of the developed world and some developing nations are facing slowing economies with aging populations and high debt levels. While that doesn’t sound great, this dismal picture also creates powerful tailwinds that might lead to a longer-term future that is more Jetsons than economic Armageddon, thanks to technological advances.To get more news about Robotics as a Service, you can visit glprobotics.com official website.

I’m talking about the rise of robotics, and contrary to the doomsayers, it has the potential to raise the standard of living faster than any other technology mankind has ever experienced. We are at the beginning of what will likely be exponential growth in robotics technology thanks to ongoing advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), edge computing and high-speed internet access with the proliferation of 5G. But first, let’s talk about the drivers of growth.

Two simple factors drive the growth of an economy: the growth of the labor pool and improvements in productivity.

The U.S. has seen growth in the labor pool slow from an annual rate of change of 3.3% in 1978 to less than 1% for most of the last decade, which means that to maintain the levels of GDP growth experienced in prior decades, productivity needs to improve at a higher rate. This isn’t just a domestic problem either. Much of the developed world is facing aging populations and weak labor pool growth because of low fertility rates, resulting in labor shortages. Since March 2018, there has been more than one job opening for every job seeker in the U.S. (excluding during the worst of the pandemic), which is a headwind to growth.
Throughout much of Europe, China, Japan and the United States, we are seeing a demographic shift, with a higher percentage of the population in their senior years than ever before thanks to the combination of better healthcare (we live longer) and declining fertility rates. This also implies a growing demand for healthcare as the most significant portion of an individual’s lifetime healthcare spending typically occurs in their senior years.

According to Statista, nearly a quarter of retail sales worldwide will be online by 2026, which means further growth in fulfillment centers and shipping logistics. Increasingly, many of the steps from when an order is placed through to delivery can be addressed by robots that don’t get tired, don’t need bathroom breaks or holidays and are perfectly fine spending their entire lives inside a distribution center.

The pandemic accelerated the existing geopolitical-driven trend towards on-shoring or near-shoring manufacturing. The invasion of Ukraine and the related energy crisis add additional tailwinds. This supply chain adjustment is occurring under tight labor market conditions, which means higher wages, and thus making robotics relatively less expensive.

Aside from the onshoring trend, we are also amid a global shift in transportation technology as nations look to reduce emissions. According to the International Energy Agency, the invasion of Ukraine is accelerating that transition, and it expects to see the demand for all fossil fuels falling or plateauing going forward.

Tompkins Robotics tSort Automation Delivers Big Benefits for Kmart Australia

Tompkins Robotics, a global leader in the robotic automation of distribution operations, today announced Kmart Australia, which features more than 300 stores in Australia and New Zealand, selected Tompkins Robotics’ tSort automation solution to optimize its Auckland fulfillment operations. Implemented in less than 5 months, Tompkins Robotics’ tSort System immediately improved the scalability of Kmart’s distributed logistics network, requiring a lower investment and utilizing 60 percent less operational space.To get more news about Tompkins Robotics GRS, you can visit glprobotics.com official website.

Click here to read a full case study on Kmart Australia’s robotics implementation.

“The initial challenge was finding a cost-effective solution that improved safety and increased output in our facility to support our growing store network and volume,” said Justin Boyd, Kmart Head of Assets, DC Design and Automation. “Tompkins Robotics’ tSort system offered an optimally aligned solution that we were able to deploy rapidly to sustain our evolving distribution network.”

Rapid deployment: This allows for faster installation between peak seasons for minimal disruption to Kmart’s operations
Low capital investment: The tSort solutions cost approximately half the cost of large tilt tray or crossbelt sorters and additional robots
Scalable & portable: All elements and robots can be easily added, removed or relocated at any time to meet changing demands
Wide range of capabilities & applications: Kmart has a wide range of products and varying packaging. tSort processes a wide variety of products and packages in many different environments and applications
“The Tompkins Robotics and Kmart teams came together to apply this exciting technology for a set of requirements and challenges that would have been difficult to meet with traditional automated solutions,” said Thompson Brockmann, VP Operations, Tompkins Robotics. “Implementing tSort to redefine item and case sortation provided Kmart with a 100 percent modular, scalable, configurable and portable robotic solution to process goods to orders.”

Tompkins Robotics’ tSort solution was installed, tested and commissioned utilizing mostly remote resources while in the midst of the pandemic, and has successfully supported the operation since its go-live in May 2021. Supporting the reduction in manual handling activities on site, the solution increased production to meet Kmart’s store growth and volume and improved inventory accuracy.
Tompkins Robotics, a business unit of Tompkins International, is focused on the robotic automation of distribution operations. Our primary system t-Sort consist of autonomous mobile robots that sort a wide range of items and parcels to consolidation points, optimizing client distribution performance and capabilities. t-Sort is the world’s first portable, automated material handling sortation system that is creating a huge paradigm shift in the supply chain and how the basic distribution function of order fulfillment is accomplished. We continue to expand this core system with complementary robotic and integrated material handling systems to automate processes in fulfillment operations. Our systems maximize performance with mobile, scalable, flexible, and portable robotics solutions. We create profit and value for our clients; making them more agile and adaptable to the highly dynamic changes in the marketplace.

The t-Sort system performs much like a tilt tray or crossbelt sorter. However, the unique and exciting difference is it uses completely independent robots. This is the equivalent of having a tilt tray with no track allowing each robot to travel to any divert or induction station independently along the shortest path. This greatly enhances efficiency to maximize your operational capabilities. Robots, chutes, and induction stations can be added modularly at any time with no interruption or downtime, an additional robot can be added in seconds. A unique feature is the system is purchased on a seasonal or annual basis deferring the capital investment and fully utilizing the asset at all times, unlike a traditional sorter that one buys for their long-term growth plan. A typical installation takes only three to four months to go-live.