Decant Automation with Flexibility, Scalability and Adaptability
Whether the application demands decanting to full totes or sub-compartments, Robotica DePack™ can handle it all, including glass!
Adaptive Robotics Decant Unknown SKUs in Seconds
Advanced manipulation capability powered by cutting-edge metrology alters tooling configurations in real-time to match measured SKUs and packages.
>1,000,000
SKU Configurations with a single tool
US & INTERNATIONAL PATENTS PENDING
Scalable Large Warehouse
>10,000
Units per Hour
Scalable Micro Fulfillment
Volumetric Effciency
Items are placed carefully in tight groups and held in place for additional placements.
US & INTERNATIONAL PATENTS PENDING
Ability to Pack Containers Right Side Up
Place leaky containers right side up into totes
Adaptive Robotics
Robotica builds highly flexible fulfillment robotics ready to handle the vast SKU numbers of eCommerce. Powered by shape-shifting servo-controlled tooling, robotics adapt to packages as presented in real-time.
Robotic Decanting – An Unmet Need in Automating Warehouse Operations
Warehousing and distribution centers are in need of cost-effective automation to meet the demands of unprecedented growth. Much progress has been made in automating order-picking tasks. Yet, decanting operations have been virtually ignored, even though box-opening and decanting are the second most labor-intensive processes in warehousing. What’s more, both operations – opening boxes and removing products from their shipping containers – carry significant risks of worker injury. Automation can keep associates safe.
Using robotics for decant operations not only lowers labor-costs, but it also avoids the high cost associated with injuries.
Studies agree that prior to automation, order-picking operations in warehouses represented 55% of the total labor cost followed by 25% for decant operations.
Standardized Storage and Handling Containers
Most of the technologies for automating order-picking rely on a uniform storage and handling container (i.e. storage tote). Decant is the process of removing the products from their original shipping containers and placing the contents into totes for storage and movement to pickers and robots.
Decant Largely Ignored – Except by Robotica
While huge investments have poured into automating order-picking, the decant process has been largely ignored.
Much of the Goods-to-Person order-picking automation was a progression from the conveyor and other material handling technology. The introduction of robotics and AMR solutions provided major advancements in lowering cost and installation time.
Now with the increasing automation of the highest labor-cost task, automating decant is coming into focus.
Not only is decant the second most labor-intensive operation in warehousing, but it is also the most dangerous task. The danger to workers and associates comes from lifting heavy boxes and cutting with razor sharp blades opening shipping boxes.
Robotica Inc, filed three new major patents for decant technology and successfully demonstrated complete decant automation in 2020. Continued testing and development has produced production-ready versions of the robotic decant system capable of investment payback in under a year.
Other Decant Solutions
Competing decant solutions fall into two categories: piece-picking and cut-and-dump.
The benefits of piece-picking include careful handling and the ability to produce volumetrically efficient stacks in the tote and sub-compartments. The problems are the lack of speed and flexibility.
Piece-picking in general is limited to a restricted subset of units. Varying AI capabilities place limits on the picking systems ability to recognize units as packed in a shipping box.
Tooling requirements also limit what can be picked. Consider the vast range of constantly changing product packaging. The range may extend from sacks of grilling charcoal to vertically oriented thin foil packages to blister packs of cosmetics.
Above all, piece-picking suffers from low rates. A piece-picking robotic decanting cell would do well at about 600 units per hour. Larger, heavier items would be slower with various tooling actuation times.
A single piece-picking cell may average 500 units per hour of limited package configurations.
Robotica’s DePack can handle up to 10,000 units per hour with far fewer limitations on unit packaging.
In automated decant operations, the function of the box opening is crucial. In the past, automated box opening fed picking or decanting operations manned by workers. When the automation performed only a partial box opening, workers downstream addressed those issues manually.
When removing the contents of the boxes is fully automated, the process cannot rely on workers to correct box opening issues.
Robotica Inc Decant Solution
Robotica’s ABOT and DePack decant technologies are offered in two modular, standard production models for fast delivery and installation. ABOT/DePack systems are suitable for micro-fulfillment and large DCs.
A single DePack-Micro processes up to 400 shipping cases per hour and a single DePack-DC handles up to 800 cases per hour. Higher rates are available with multiple cells. Options include automated receiving, de-palletizing, dimensioning, weighing, and scanning.
The Robotica decant automation works well with other robotic material movement or existing conveyors. Both replenishment supply (i.e. donor case) and order inventory (i.e. totes) are handled, buffered and managed.