A visit to the unicorn

THERE ARE not too many unicorn companies – start-ups valued at over $1 billion – in the warehouse sector, so it was exciting to visit Exotec at its factory in Lille, as well as getting the chance to see its systems in action with a selection of its customers in the Paris area.

Exotec supplies the Skypod robotic warehousing solution that aim to boost productivity and maximise warehouse space. The tech focuses on tote handling and storage, and all processes around that.

What makes the system stand out, at first, is that it comprises robots that climb the bespoke racks retrieving and replacing tote boxes. It’s a sight to behold, and no other system takes this approach.

When word of the rack-climbing robots first reached the UK a few years ago, the concept was regarded with a great deal of scepticism.

So far, that scepticism has been brushed aside, and the company now has customers worldwide and a presence in the UK, with an installation set to go live soon, and Exotec shooting for many more.

This is all the more remarkable considering that Exotec was formed as recently as 2015, and raised 3 millions euros in seed funding at the end of 2016. 

Vision

There are many factors behind the rise of Exotec but the clarity of vision shown by founders Renaud Heitz and Romain Moulin is certainly important.

They launched the company around the time Amazon bought Kiva Systems, so there was a sense that robotics could provide a competitive advantage in the warehouse. Still, the imaginative leap, to take the robot upwards is quite something.

As Renaud explained during the factory visit: “We got the idea by asking – what are the customer challenges? We saw that eCommerce meant more handling of small items, with high throughput and density important, and so we came up with a robot that makes use of the three dimensions of the warehouse.”

No doubt, it was a great concept, but it still had to work in reality. How did they get a viable product to market so quickly and reliably?

Both founders have a strong tech background and experience with a French manufacturer of AGVs. 

This no doubt helped, but Renaud says the key is standardisation.

For example, the robots use racking that is tailored specifically for this use, and the tote boxes come in one size (only varying in height), although they can be subdivided to store more goods.

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This kind of approach means it’s clearly not for every application, but when it hits the sweet spot, the predictable, repeatable nature of the installations means they can be rolled out quickly and smoothly.

Exotec has had a bit of luck as well, or was it foresight? While global supply chains have suffered from unprecedented disruption over recent years, Exotec sources all of its components from European suppliers.

This, the reliability of the robots and their orchestration in the warehouse, as well as the company’s approach to maintenance, allows Exotec to guarantee 98% uptime of the Skypod system.

The maintenance control room at Exotec’s HQ – an array of screen and alerts – was another highlight of the factory tour. To ease maintenance, the Skypod system can isolate a ‘chimney’, a column of racks, while the operation continues around it. Exotec also creates component kits, such as fork assemblies, so there are pre-built replacements to plug in. 

Benefits

So what’s in it for you? As with most robotics solutions, Exotec’s aim to boost efficiency, handle greater throughput and ease reliance on labour.

Exotec senior sales executive for UK & Ireland Simon Jones says: “The key selling points are savings on labour, efficient utilisation of space, order accuracy, and reliability.

“The systems are robot-based but with the racks included, and software, it’s still a fairly heavy capex investment.”

Exotec says the system is cheaper and quicker to install than ASRS or miniload systems and are more flexible, as robots can be re-deployed if needed.

The system can also scale more easily than many other large scale automated systems, Simon continues.

He adds: “With robots the core of the system, the customer can scale the solution. You can double robot capacity for Peak and send them back after a month.”

Lead times on robots are three months. 

Simon says: “The SkyPod is also more lightweight than traditional automated systems, with lower energy requirements and comparatively high uptime and low maintenance.”

Broader solution

Exotec is building out its offering from Skypod, providing a more end-to-end solution for key customer Decathlon. The company is also developing more pickstation options, and a bin interface, which allows customers to feed tote bins back into the system more quickly, which helps speed up replenishment, keeping the system efficient even during times of relentless demand.

Exotec has also developed the Deepsky warehouse software system, which connects with 3rd party automation equipment and integrates with most WMS and WCS. The software is really key in terms of orchestrating these kind of solutions.

The company is also integrating plug and play conveyors, without PLC, controlled and controlled by Deepsky. To aid business continuity and safety, the system can be integrated with sprinklers. 

While this all shows that Exotec is widening its offering out to take on processes adjacent to Skypod, perhaps the key new development for Exotec is Skypicker, its high-speed robot picking arm.

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Skypicker gives customers the option of a completely automated pickstation, as it picks goods delivered to it by Skypod and places them into fulfillment containers. Equipped with its own order mover, the Skypicker can prepare up to four orders simultaneously. It is capable of moving up to 600 items per hour, weighing up to 2 kilograms with a minimum size of 2 x 2 centimetres. Deepsky synchronises the Skypicker and Skypod robots.

Skypicker leverages machine learning algorithms to intelligently pick items from the Skypod robots and place them in fulfillment containers. The cameras and sensors automatically detect item dimension to pick and place them in a way that optimises the available space.

Conclusion

Exotec is an up and coming company, growing in both capability and reach. If you’re storing and moving small items and watching throughput and density demands climb more rapidly than your systems can cope with, then they are worth a look.

For more information, visit www.exotec.com