Small and medium-sized e-commerce companies often struggle to fulfill orders. Given the cost of running warehouses and fulfillment centers, many small businesses outsource those tasks, but that could change as robots become available to even smaller businesses.
warehouse automation
Warehouse automation has been around for years and continues to expand. According to his Gartner in February 2024 report Entitled “Avoid the Pitfalls of Large-Scale Warehouse Automation,” the industry’s global revenue is expected to reach approximately $21.8 billion in 2024 and an estimated $71 billion by 2032.
Much of the industry’s revenue and growth comes from large retailers and logistics operations. This focus on large enterprises has generally put warehouse automation out of reach for small and medium-sized businesses for at least two reasons.
beginning, warehouse system Robotics-related things in particular are too large and complex for non-corporate companies. Companies that don’t fully understand the nuances of pick-and-pack software, technology infrastructure, robots, and services can easily waste truckloads of money on systems that turn out to be inadequate or redundant. There is a possibility.
Second, automated and robotic pick-and-pack warehouse solutions are expensive. Think millions or even tens of millions of dollars. Investing in automation doesn’t make sense until your business grows in size and scale.
Therefore, e-commerce small businesses are usually small and manually operated. Shipping operations Or, you can expand with fulfillment services and their warehouse automation and shipping equipment. Fulfillment vendors are investing in technology, and many customers are reaping the benefits.
The choice ultimately comes down to business calculations. So, do you pay for fulfillment services or do you incur the following costs? It’s done in-house.
An affordable robot?
For small businesses, or at least medium-sized retailers, another option may be on the horizon.
Warehouse automation companies such as BionicHive, Dexterity Inc., Prime Robotics, and Pio have begun targeting products and services for e-commerce small businesses in an apparent effort to reach emerging sellers.
for example, bionic hive The 2-foot-wide, 100-pound robot runs along aisles and shelves in existing warehouses, picking orders without assistance. This robot, called sqUID, is suitable for large and sometimes medium-sized sellers.
sqUID is primarily a tool for large warehouses and, in some cases, mid-market sellers.
meanwhile, Pio’s P100 Cube “Essentially a high-speed vending machine” that stores and picks products efficiently, as of May 2024, for a 14-foot, 620-box setup with two picking robots and a monthly fee of $2,997 Starting at $101,999. If you upgrade to 3 robots, your monthly subscription will be $3,996.
Each Pio robot can pick approximately 120 items per hour. The system is “plug and play” so sellers do not need a separate warehouse management system. It will operate alongside existing manual fulfillment operations and occupy just 500 square feet.
As seen in this rendering, the Pio P100 is a compact cube filled with storage bins, each of which can hold, say, about 120 T-shirts.
potential benefits
While the warehouse automation industry remains focused on large enterprises, the nascent trend toward e-commerce small businesses could provide growing brands with even more fulfillment options.
The question is whether small-scale warehouse automation systems and robotics will save e-commerce companies money and otherwise provide a competitive advantage.
Pio is based on AutoStore’s large-scale warehouse technology and, as of this writing, has five cube and robot facilities: Privada Cigar Club, Sunday Swagger (apparel), Souko (fulfillment), and Barnes 4WD (auto parts) had. and AI Stone (apparel).
The performance of these brands may predict e-commerce enrichment in general.
