Making the Smart Warehouse Customizable, Flexible, Scalable

Ryder System, Inc., a leader in commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions, recently announced a partnership with Fetch Robotics, to enable the successful transformation of Ryder smart warehouses in the Miami, Dallas, and Chicago markets. These transformed warehouses run the Fetch Cloud Robotics Platform to deliver advanced automation, flexible and instantly scalable operations, real-time visibility, and a customer-centric experience.

“We focus on technologies that are mobile, flexible, and scalable, so they can flex with changing demands.”
Steve Sensing
Ryder President of Global Supply Chain Solutions

In an effort to stay ahead of rising labor costs and increased customer expectations, Ryder recently conducted an extensive survey of the market to identify the most innovative technologies in the market capable of advancing the company’s goal of improving productivity, efficiency, and profitability on behalf of its customers.

Early on in its examination of what the market had to offer, Ryder realized that traditional automation such as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and conveyor-based solutions did not meet their needs for ultimate flexibility. Both require significant fixed infrastructure to be installed, a significant amount of floor space, and material changes to process flows, which can be both expensive and time consuming.

What Ryder really wanted was warehouse automation on-demand, flexible enough to be up in running in hours and adaptable to handle multiple workflows within the smart warehouses. So they turned to the Fetch Cloud Robotics Platform which not only provided an easy point-of-entry, but offered the true flexibility Ryder required make immediate productivity impacts on their operations and demonstrate a return on investment.

Ryder deployed multiple types of Fetch AMRs in several different sites. The value provided was to unburden warehouse associates from repetitive, labor-intensive tasks like cycle counting and eliminate long haul travel from order picking or putaway tasks.

The startup process with Fetch was very simple and quick – the facilities were mapped, associates were trained, and robots were up and running within a day. Ryder wanted to deploy in an active warehouse, where associates, traditional material handling equipment such as forklifts and electric pallet jacks, and AMRs would work in the same space. Safety was paramount, which made Fetch’s safety certifications critical. The targeted workflow was case and each picking, with HMIShelf AMRs moving from one pick zone to another. Completed picks were delivered were delivered to packout or directly to the shipping dock for loading onto outbound trailers.

The Results

The implementation of robotics throughout Ryder-managed warehouses produced a 25-percent increase in productivity and 20-percent operating savings simply by reducing travel time in the warehouse. Ryder also experienced:

• Reduced resources for MHE operation and inventory management
• Improved inventory management accuracy and velocity
• Improved flexibility and scalability vs. fixed material handling solutions (e.g. conveyors)

Ryder now plans to introduce the Fetch Cloud Robotics Platform into integrated hybrid environments where Fetch AMRs will deliver picked product directly to a shipping sorter.Palletized loads will be moved with the Freight1500, Fetch Robotics’ largest AMR.

Partnering with Fetch gives Ryder a highly scalable, flexible, platform-based approach that serves as a mobile robotics foundation for their Smart Warehouse initiatives.