AUGUST 201919utonomous technologies are boosting oper-ational efficiencies and enhancing positive outcomes for warehouses, manufacturing units and distribution centres... Just as the assembly line once revolutionised manufacturing, especially in automotive segment, autonomous tech-nologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are poised to transform the warehousing and industrial sectors. The rapid emergence of AI is a fascinating tale in itself, but its importance in warehousing and industrial sectors needs special mention. Worldwide, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Robotics have been transforming warehousing and other industries through the sheer speed of manufac-turing, assembly and distribution of various products. The benefits include higher productivity and better outcomes due to the improved product quality, the flexibility of operations as well as turnaround and de-livery times, among others. Transformative OfferingsSince sustained quality improvements, enhanced pro-ductivity and flexibility in processes have always been a major challenge for diverse industries, autonomous technologies are triggering a paradigm change in mul-tiple domains. The impact in warehouses and indus-tries is worth noting. Every domain harbours varied challenges. For in-stance, any manufacturing unit and its warehousing and distribution centres (DCs) would face hurdles such as poor traceability; volatile production output; fluc-tuating order delivery time; seasonal vagaries & vari-ations; space constraints; shipment accuracy issues; dependence on human resources, and others. In all the above aspects, AI and automation offer relevant solutions. Embedded chips and sensors en-sure products are always traceable. Automated man-ufacturing and movement mean production output is assured and delivery is done as per predetermined schedule. Moreover, seasonal vagaries and variations in demand can be addressed by flexible production lines. Alternately, production lines can adapt for prod-ucts to be shipped to new markets. Space constraints can be avoided since warehouses would only store limited inventories for shorter durations due to the speedy movement of goods. With barcoding and GPS tracking, shipment accuracy can be ensured. Final-ly, dependence on the human workforce is no longer ACXO INSIGHTSTHE IMPACT OF AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGIES ON THE WAREHOUSING & INDUSTRIAL SECTORSBy Anuj Kapuria, Founder & CEO, The Hi-Tech Robotic SystemzWith a Masters Degree in Robotics, Anuj has successfully executed projects in 3D Object Recognition, Autonomous Vehicles, Terrain Mapping and Face Recognition
< Page 9 | Page 11 >