Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS)
In the 1960’s the original ASRS systems were aimed at large loads.
ASRS systems at this time were giant cranes that traversed large columns of shelves to store and retrieve raw materials. And these are still used today by various manufacturers. For automated pallet storage, I would say this is the one technology that hasn’t changed much since the 1960’s.
The cost of these systems were high as they require a lot of infrastructure including tall and expensive shelving…
And Load bearing rails installed on the floors and ceilings for the crane.
The crane also consumes a good amount of energy and can only access one location at a time.
For the right application, all of these costs are worth it because the ASRS crane and shelving systems:
- Make more efficient use of land
- Improve of storage efficiency and access
- and Save Labour in Warehouse Work
A Brief History
Because of the high cost, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems were utilized by only very large manufacturers to store finished goods and get raw materials to the production line on time.
At that time, most warehouses were of a single-story design and much of the work was manual… including storing, loading, and unloading.
Although computers were around, adoption into the warehouse industry was delayed, most of the record keeping was done on paper ledgers and slips.
With the introduction of the home computer in the 70’s, the late 70’s and 80’s brought digital record keeping. Companies began to use software technology to manage the inventories.
Through the 80’s and 90’s the technology began to be adopted by smaller manufacturers such as: Fanuc, Fujitsu Limited, Makino Milliing Machine Co….
And eventually to agriculture, interior décor & supply, wholesale and retail, bank, insurance, public agencies.
These industries didn’t have much previous experience with logistics automation so it was necessary to make the automation solutions more intuitive and customized for each of the industries.
And during this period between 1980’s to early 2000’s, several other giants filled this need in the logistics automation space including companies such as: Mecalux, Bastian, SSI Shaefer, and Witron.
Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
AGV’s, automated guided vehicles also became popular to reduce employee and product travel distances within warehouses.
Micro Fulfillment
As the cost and size of the systems have decreased, and as they have become more efficient and compact, we are seeing adoption of warehouse automation closer and closer to end users.
The most extreme example of this is micro-fulfillment centers. Fabric, a Startup founded in 2015 has reduced the footprint of its warehouse automation systems to fit in urban areas close to the customer. These small fulfillment centers help to reduce costs of “the last mile” which is a shipping term used to describe the movement of goods to their final destination.
Ecommerce, the Driving Force Behind Warehouse Automation
Today we are in another massive growth period for warehouse automation that is driven by massive e-commerce growth.
It is no surprise that e-commerce is the major driving force behind retail closures. In 2019, worldwide retailers planned to close more than 9300 stores – smashing the previous record of around 8000 stores in 2017. (Business Insider)
Ecommerce sales continue to impinge upon the retail sale market share, representing 14.1% of all retail sales worldwide in 2019 and expected to reach 22.0% of all retail sales by 2023.
During this time Worldwide retail will continue to grow at a fairly consistent rate of 4-4.5% per year.
With the largest growth being in markets like Mexico, India, Philippines, China, Malaysia, and even Canada.
Other factors that behind growth in warehouse automation are:
- the increasing cost of real estate and warehouse rents
- increasing cost of labour
- difficulty finding skilled labour
- more frequent and complex orders
- and higher customer expectations and demand for customization. This means a greater number of SKUs must be held on hand and requires faster access to a growing number of components with little room for handling errors.
These new constraints and challenges have given birth to a wide variety of creative robotic systems aimed at making warehouse and order fulfillment centers more efficient.
Many of which use independently functioning battery powered robots which can handle the small items and complex orders that are frequently demanded by the eCommerce industry.
This also reduces infrastructure costs as it reduces the need for large and costly mechanical components that are attached to the shelving units.
Flexible and Modular High-Density Storage
Attabotics has created one of the most flexible structures as it is modular. In addition, its 3D layout is significantly more dense than the traditional rows of shelving units.
Goods to Person Solutions
Many fulfillment solutions still rely on employees to pick products for orders as picking is one of the more complex task to automate. Robots are used to move the goods from the shelving units to the pickers rather than having pickers travel around the warehouse. This is effective in saving space as it reduces space dedicated to access pathways and increases pick rates.
Automated Picking Solutions
As automation technology becomes more efficient I believe we will see more automated picking solutions adopted into fulfillment centers.
Future
In the future, the ASRS industry alone is expected to be worth 9.8 billion by 2023. And the Warehouse Automation Market will grow by more than 2x… from $13 billion in 2018 to $27 billion by 2025.
This is supported by more than $5 Billion in investment that will flow into the space by 2025.
I hope you enjoyed delving into the history of warehouse automation with me.
If you are a visionary that understands the major problems in your industry…
And want to automate a task in your business but aren’t happy with the existing off-the-shelf solutions out there…
We can help create a complete solution that works for your business. Give us a call or reach us by email to start discussing if your task can be automated using technology that exists today.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video. Take Care.
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