Dexory’s 45-foot-tall autonomous robot uses 12 HD cameras and sensors measuring temperature, humidity, noise and light, scanning over one million square feet and 100,000 pallets a day.
As businesses like manufacturers and retailers grow, the amount of warehouse space they require grows with them, but storage square footage is not their only concern. As the space required increases, it becomes increasingly impossible to keep track of the number, location and quality of stock, as well as other complications such as the storage and organisation of incoming and outgoing products, parts and materials.
Keeping on top of well-organised storage
The rising demands of e-commerce, combined with staff shortages and training, means there has been a surge in warehouse automation, and the greater the size of the equipment, the more efficient it can be.
“We like to know everything that’s going on in the warehouse, every single pallet movement, how much product you have in every single location, and also things like the conditions in which you’re storing the goods,” said Andrei Danescu, the CEO of Dexory, which is a developer and manufacturer of warehouse automation systems and robots.
The tall robot – which has not currently been named – is equipped with multiple sensors including temperature gauges and humidity monitors, as well as 12 HD cameras to autonomously navigate large warehouses. Leveraging advanced technologies such as machine vision and simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM), the robot creates a real-time digital twin of its warehouse environment, providing insights into inventory movement, storage conditions and operational efficiency.
Partnering with automation on a grand scale
For logistics companies like Unipart who specialise in supply chain solutions, this ability to keep track of everything at once is crucial to operations. At the firm’s Nuneaton site in the UK, for example, Dexory’s visibility platform DexoryView allows Unipart the freedom to remove manual time-intensive tasks from its scheduling, thus saving both time and monetary resources.
Rather than relying on a stock team performing random checks on 20 locations, DexoryView allows Unipart to scan its entire warehouse overnight, ensuring the team receives up-to-date data on a daily basis.
The ability to scan more than 10,000 locations per hour allows Unipart and other automation users to increase the efficiency and reliability of their supply chains. “The deployment of DexoryView allows us to gain further insights into our operations,” said Jame Hayden, an automation engineering manager at Unipart, “[which] enables us to optimise our space utilisation to be more efficient in fulfilling customer orders.”
Dexory’s record-breaking robot can also be found roaming the warehouses of logistics and warehouse firms such as MAERSK, Iron Mountain and ID Logistics. “Our goal is to provide unparalleled visibility and efficiency across global warehouse networks,” said Danescu. “By harnessing the power of robotics and smart software, we aim to elevate warehouse management to new heights.”
