Automated logistics: A new reality How automation is

Autonomous logistics technologies, from warehouse automation to augmented reality and self-driving vehicles, are revolutionising the way manufacturers move goods from place to place, increasing efficiency, improving safety standards and reducing environmental footprints. Industry Europe looks at just some of the biggest trends of recent years.

AuTomATED LoGISTICS: a nEw rEality

The market for autonomous logistics systems is growing rapidly. According to the ‘Logistics Automation Market by Component’ report by Research and Markets, the global logistics automation market is expected to grow from USD 46.22 billion to USD 80.64 billion by 2023.

This anticipated boom can be explained by numerous factors: the continued growth of the e-commerce industry, robotics advancements and the emergence of IoT, amongst others. The growing sophistication of driverless vehicles and drones is also playing a vital role in automating logistics processes.

Warehouse automation

In warehousing facilities throughout Europe, humans and robots are working increasingly closely together. One high-profile example of this is at online retail giant Amazon’s Winsen centre in Hamburg, where robots are being use to help with stock-picking.

As yet, this technology is by no means the norm as the majority of facilities across Europe are still manually operated. But as demand for staff rises thanks to the growing popularity of e-commerce, many European countries are facing labour shortages; according to research from Oxford Economics, working age populations are expected to fall in countries such as Germany, Poland and Spain up to 2031. Increased warehouse automation could be a viable solution to this.

And this is also where collaborative robots (‘cobots’) come in. Increasingly, they are working alongside humans on repetitive tasks – such as unpacking and inspection – to keep warehouses running more smoothly and eliminate errors. For example, automation technology specialist Swisslog’s AutoPiQ solution has robots picking items with humans finishing off the job. German logistics company DHL’s Sawyer robot, meanwhile, has articulated arms and suction grabbers to help pack products.

Augmented reality

Emerging computer vision and machine learning technologies are helping warehouse employees to identify where a product is located at a faster pace than could otherwise be achieved. Augmented reality applications could streamline the time it takes to identify packages. A mobile app

or wearable device can provide information about the type of goods being transported, the weight of a package, whether it is fragile, etc. The device could then calculate the space needed for the package in the vehicle as well as displaying digital directions for the immediate environment. Such augmented reality technology could greatly reduce the cost of warehousing operations in future.

For example, German logistics company DHL has successfully implemented its mobile AR ‘Vision Picking’ system in warehouses around the world. These smart glasses provide visual displays of order picking instructions along with information on where items are located and where they need to be placed on a cart, thus freeing up pickers’ hands and enabling them to work more efficiently.

According to Eric Abbruzzese, principal analyst at ABI Research Logistics, which in late 2017 produced a report on ‘Augmented Reality in Warehousing and Logistics’: “More universal AR use cases, including maintenance and repair, training, and navigation, can be incredibly useful in various parts of the logistic market. While device concerns around comfort, battery, usability, and robustness do persist, advancements in smart glasses, as well as the quickly growing AR-powered mobile device space, promise to lessen these concerns over time.”

Self-driving vehicles

The development of autonomous vehicles for logistics is also a global trend; in the years to come we may well see long-distance heavy autonomous trucks transporting goods all over the continent. Forbes has projected that more than 250 million smart vehicles as well as 10 million self-driving cars will be on the road by 2020. Volvo Group already has a fully automated truck operating in the Kristineberg mine in Sweden, and has also demonstrated a fully driverless truck in China that can drive between delivery hubs without the need for a human operator.

But there have inevitably been concerns about this technology – not just from a safety perspective but on the part of truck drivers who see it as a threat to their livelihoods. In a May 2017 report, the ITF predicted that up to 4.4 million of the 6.4 million professional trucking jobs in the US and Europe could be eliminated by autonomous technology. As with many other sectors where automation is likely to play a key role in the future, the fear of the robots coming to take over humans’ jobs is a very real one.

But a complete transformation to fully automated trucks is likely to be slow. Closer than total autonomy is the possibility of trucks driving themselves part of the time, with assistance from humans. ‘Platooning’ technology, for example, involves trucks owned by a single company synchronising their braking on motorways to enable them to drive far closer together than would normally be safe. The benefits of this are reduced air resistance and lower fuel consumption.

Off the road, automated guided vehicles equipped with lasers and cameras can also be used in warehouses or logistics hubs to move and sense hazards – meaning a reduced need for investment in tracks or guide lanes. For example, back in 2015 The Hook in Rotterdam became the first shipping terminal to open a fully automated shipyard – the Maasvlakte II, or MVII Shipyard – using smart sensors powered by wind and other renewable energy sources to move cargo efficiently.

While there are still many issues to be addressed, not least of which is safety, there’s no doubt that autonomous vehicles will be playing a significant role in the future of the global logistics industry. n