- Ensuring food safety with fully automated warehouses
- Reduced reliance on manual labour and lower operating costs
- Lights-out production promises to revolutionise manufacturing
Traditionally, the bustling corridors of warehouses and the humming machinery of manufacturing plants have been synonymous with human activity. Workers scurrying to and fro, meticulously overseeing tasks, and ensuring that operations run smoothly have been the norm for centuries. However, the landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. The arrival of a new generation of robots, more capable and versatile than ever before, is ushering in an era where human involvement in manufacturing and logistics processes is becoming increasingly obsolete, resulting in the emergence of ‘lights-out’ warehouses and plants. The term lights-out itself conveys the profound transformation occurring within these industrial facilities. It refers to the ability to run operations without the need for human presence, even to the extent that the lights can be turned off entirely. Once a futuristic dream, this innovative concept has become a reality, thanks to the remarkable advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation. In this article, we delve into the recent rise of lights-out warehouses and plants, exploring the intricate web of technological breakthroughs that are propelling this significant transition. We’ll uncover how robotics, bolstered by machine learning algorithms and real-time data analysis, are redefining the way we approach manufacturing and distribution. Let’s explore the future of automation, where robots are more than mere tools — they are the architects of a new industrial landscape.
“Automation would allow us to boost productivity, reduce the presence of staff in low-temperature environments, and improve our customer service”.
Itamar Ferrari, logistics manager at Copacol
Ensuring food safety with fully automated warehouses
As any business working with food products can attest to, ensuring the quality and safety of food is one of the top priorities. To make sure that food products reach the end consumer in optimal condition, they need to be stored in a suitable environment and kept at the right temperature at all times. However, this may not always be as simple as it sounds, especially when human employees work at the warehouse where the food is stored, who generally don’t respond well to extremely low temperatures certain food products require. To address this issue, a growing number of businesses in this sector are investing in the automation of their supply chain operations, with a particular focus on warehouse automation. One of these is the Brazilian agribusiness cooperative Copacol, which specialises in the production of fish and poultry meat products. As its production volume grew over the years, the cooperative recognised the need to centralise its supply chain operations. “Before bringing all our logistics operations together under one roof, our goods were stored in our different centres around Brazil. And this made order preparation and dispatch very difficult”, explains Itamar Ferrari, logistics manager at Copacol. “We had to contract the services of logistics providers to distribute the goods, with the high cost that this entailed for our business”.
In 2020, Copacol joined forces with Mecalux, one of the world’s leading intralogistics technology companies, to open a new distribution centre in Corbélia, Brazil, which now serves as its main logistics hub where goods are sorted and distributed to both national and international markets. Spreading over 15,800 square metres, the centre can store approximately 15,500 tonnes of products for up to 15 days, enabling the cooperative to significantly reduce its reliance on external logistics providers. What’s particularly interesting about the new distribution centre is that it actually consists of two separate and fully automated warehouses, both of which operate at different temperatures to accommodate different types of food products. The first one is a clad-rack facility where frozen products are stored at -25 degrees Celsius. It consists of four aisles, which can store 12,500 tonnes of chicken and about 1,700 tonnes of fish. The second automated warehouse only has one aisle with the capacity to store 1,300 tonnes of chicken. It’s used to store refrigerated products, which are kept at 4 degrees Celsius. Both facilities are equipped with automated storage systems, which allows Copacol to increase the speed of product inflows and outflows and simultaneously reduce the number of errors. “When starting up this DC, our priority was to facilitate the management and handling of the food at a controlled temperature. And we knew we definitely wanted its operations to be automated. Automation would allow us to boost productivity, reduce the presence of staff in low-temperature environments, and improve our customer service”, adds Ferrari. About 1,230 pallets arrive at the distribution centre every day from various production plants across the country. These pallets are then stored in the appropriate warehouses until they are ready to be shipped to end consumers.
“We envision a future in which both consumers and e-commerce businesses will be more satisfied through the use of automation”.
Masayuki Ataka, COO at SB Logistics
Reduced reliance on manual labour and lower operating costs
SB Logistics, one of the world’s leading freight forwarding companies, recently unveiled a new 55,740-square-metre distribution centre in Ichikawa City, Japan. The facility features robotic systems for piece-picking and packing, as well as automated storage and retrieval, conveyance, and sortation. Designed by the Japanese robotics company SoftBank Robotics, the facility handles the distribution of a wide range of items, including consumer electronics, consumables, food, and toys. Overall, it manages more than 50,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) and approximately 2,000,000 units, with an average throughput of 5,000 pieces per hour. At this point, more than 50 per cent of the orders that go through the facility are handled automatically by the robots. While the picking and packing processes are almost entirely automated, certain tasks still need to be performed manually, such as inbound receiving and outbound shipping. Some items that are either too bulky or too heavy to be handled by robots, which requires a more delicate, human touch. “Associates are still needed for some operations”, says Masashi Okabe, project manager and production engineer at SoftBank Robotics. “Since we have a great deal of diversity in our inbound parcels, we have to be able to change our processes to meet the needs of our customers. However, automation reduces our reliance on labour and lowers our operating costs. These are big steps toward full automation”.
In fact, the facility initially began its existence as a conventional distribution centre, featuring manual operations and no machines whatsoever. Once it became operational, the company gradually started introducing automation. First it implemented an automated storage and retrieval system, followed by the installation of a conveyor system and shipping sorter. The ultimate goal is to have a fully automated, lights-out warehouse where all of the processes are executed by robots, while humans are only there for maintenance and supervision. Perhaps the biggest challenge throughout the whole process was finding a robotics solutions provider capable of meeting the key requirements for the facility’s robotic systems. This included being able to handle tens of thousands of SKUs and being able to pick up the transport packaging without damaging it, as the appearance of a product is very important to Japanese consumers. Ultimately, the choice fell on the US-based AI and robotics company Berkshire Grey. “We thought about automating the warehouse and first reducing the burden on the people working at the e-commerce and logistics site”, says Masayuki Ataka, COO at SB Logistics. “As a result, the quality of service will improve and the cost (of logistics) will be stable. We envision a future in which both consumers and e-commerce businesses will be more satisfied through the use of automation”.
“The automation assists us by creating a truly lights-out manufacturing environment where we can leave at 5:00 at night and come back the next day and have parts ready for us to process”.
Taylor Moore, operations manager at Athena
Lights-out production promises to revolutionise manufacturing
Already one of the most automated sectors in the world, manufacturing is now also increasingly moving towards lights-out facilities. A case in point is the Arizona-based additive manufacturing service bureau Athena 3D, which recently implemented robotic automation technology developed by the Japanese robotics manufacturer FANUC to enable it to keep production running around the clock. In the past, production would often come to a halt in the middle of the night. That’s because 3D printers typically finished their tasks when there was no one around to restart production, often around 3:00, leaving them to sit idle until the next day. However, this changed once the company embraced automation. Now, when the printer is done with its task, FANUC’s robot replaces the used print bed with a clean one, while the printer is assigned the next task through the application programming interface (API). “The automation assists us by creating a truly lights-out manufacturing environment where we can leave at 5:00 at night and come back the next day and have parts ready for us to process”, says Taylor Moore, operations manager at Athena. “It’s made a huge difference in our operations as we’re able to pump out almost twice as many parts. We’re looking at a 40 per cent increase in the utilisation of our technology — and that’s major”. In addition to significantly increasing machine utilisation and enabling the company to meet its production deadlines, the robots also allow technicians to dedicate more time to higher-level tasks, such as quality control, maintaining other equipment, and managing advanced processes.
In closing
The transformation of warehouses and manufacturing plants into lights-out facilities represents a seismic shift in the industrial sector. What was once a futuristic vision is now a tangible reality, made possible by the incredible progress in robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation. As we have explored in this article, these technological advancements, empowered by machine learning algorithms and real-time data analysis, are completely reshaping manufacturing and distribution processes. The rise of lights-out warehouses and plants is not just a trend; it signifies a future where robots evolve from mere tools to the masterminds behind a new industrial frontier. With the continued evolution of technology, we can only anticipate further transformation in the future, promising increased efficiency, precision, and adaptability within the manufacturing and logistics sectors. As we journey forward into this automated era, it is clear that the lights may be out, but the future of manufacturing looks brighter than ever.
