Using robots to meet peak seasonal demands

Almost all experience dramatic increases in sales during the holiday season, creating fierce competition for seasonal labour. In fact, according to a recent report from CBRE, the rapid growth of e-commerce will create demand for an additional 452,000 warehouse and workers in 2018-2019.

Swisslog Head of Sales in the UK, Shane Faulkner, says: “Relying on hard-to-find labour during the most important season of the year significantly increases business risk, especially for facilities based in logistics hotspots. Use of robotic-based automation can mitigate that risk in multiple ways.”

Goods-to-person picking solutions increase the productivity of warehouse personnel. Many CarryPick and AutoStore customers find they can increase pick rates by as much as 50 percent using goods-to-person picking, significantly reducing the need to supplement staff during peak seasons. 

Another approach that is gaining popularity, particularly with CarryPick users, is to build a reserve of robots over time to handle seasonal demand. In this approach, a warehouse diverts some of the money it would spend on seasonal labour each year to purchase additional robots to help meet peak demands. 

Shane concludes: “These robots are compact and consume very little warehouse space when they sit idle. Even if they are idle for ten months out of the year, the ability to gradually build reserve capacity over time, combined with the flexibility to instantly turn on that capacity to meet peak demand, can make this an attractive option for e-commerce providers seeking to reduce the risks associated with finding sufficient labour during peak periods.”

Read the full whitepaper on Using Automation to Manage Growth in E-Commerce Fulfillment