Dive Brief:
- GXO increased its overall units of warehouse automation in 2023 by 50% — this includes doubling its use of vision technology, according to a Q4 earnings call.
- Vision technology optimizes order validation and minimizes errors, and it can be rolled out across various operations in different verticals without significant investment, Chief Automation Officer Adrian Stoch told analysts on Feb. 14.
- The warehouse logistics company is looking for other practical applications of artificial intelligence in its existing operations and has piloted solutions for pick productivity and workforce management, Stoch said.
Dive Insight:
Warehouse providers, retailers and other stakeholders have been leveraging AI and machine learning to tighten operations in a bid to improve productivity, trim costs and boost employee retention.
The last few months have shown various ways the industry is implementing AI and other automated tech. In February, for instance, Staples deployed piece-picking robots in its fulfillment centers to help automate operations. Last year, logistics provider DHL Supply Chain announced plans to open four more automated warehouses as it digitizes its global warehousing operations to increase efficiency.
Similarly, GXO’s automated solutions aim to improve service and lower costs for its customers, CEO Malcolm Wilson said in the earnings call. In 2023, the logistics company trialed new hardware and software solutions like humanoids, AI-powered robotics and autonomous vehicles, setting an all-time volume record at two of its primarily automated sites.
Chief Strategy Officer Neil Shelton told Supply Chain Dive in an interview that GXO's supplier base is looking for a company to “act as a guide” for identifying the best technology to boost productivity and ROI.
“A lot of companies [have] been talking about supply chain challenges reguarly now for the past few years — there’s been a much greater focus,” Shelton said. “What we’re seeing is companies making more strategic decisions to partner with someone who just focuses on that warehouse solution.”
Machine-vision technology is touchless and helps increase productivity, speed, accuracy and safety during data-gathering tasks in warehouses, according to GXO’s website. Implementations and pilots include wearable machine-vision tech like eyewear and gloves, as well as code scanners and other fixed-mount devices.
“I think a good way to think about technology is that it helps to drive a tremendous uplift in the performance of our solutions,” Shelton told Supply Chain Dive. “It clearly drives tremendous efficiency; it helps to drive a tremendous improvement in the accuracy, in performance, [and] in the predictability.”
