INNOVATION ANALYSIS INNOVATION OF WAREHOUSE MOBILE ROBOTS

LA TROBE BUSINESS SCHOOL
2022-MGT5MIO(BU-2) - MANAGING INNOVATION IN
ORGANIZATIONS
ASSESSMENT 1: INNOVATION ANALYSIS
INNOVATION OF WAREHOUSE MOBILE ROBOTS
Lecturer: Associate Professor VANESSA RATTEN
Student name: KIEU OANH VO
Student ID: 21179931
Melbourne, Victoria

2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A.........................................................................................................................3
I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................3
II. DISCUSSIONS......................................................................................................3
2.1. Warehouse mobile robot types and uses.....................................................3
2.2. Milestones.......................................................................................................4
2.3. Impact of Autonomous mobile robot on Business......................................5
III. RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION.............................................6
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................8
PART B.........................................................................................................................9
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PART A
I. INTRODUCTION
The incredible growth of e-commerce has defined the recent years of various
industries in the world (Vakulenko et al., 2019). The disruptive evolution of e-
commerce supported by advanced technologies, smartphones, and smart applications
has been further changing people’s shopping habits (Garg and Agrawal, 2020).
Customers nowadays are much more demanding and seeking instant gratification by
placing orders and expecting faster delivery by the next day shipping. In addition,
Liang et al, (2015) emphasized that order fulfillment is a time-consuming and time-
critical operation of e-commerce since each purchase order may include multiple
products of different features and customers may require same-day delivery.
Altogether, the ever-changing customer expectations have made e-commerce
fulfillment warehouses and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) turn their attention
toward innovative robotics and automation-based technology. Especially, the
innovation of warehouse mobile robots, without doubt, has become the foundation for
automated warehouse systems.
II. DISCUSSIONS
2.1. Warehouse mobile robot types and uses
In recent years, three main types of warehouse mobile robots are most commonly
used, including Automated guided vehicles (AGVs), Autonomous mobile robots
(AMRs), and Automated storage and retrieval systems (AR/RS). Automated guided
vehicle, firstly introduced in1955 (Muller, 1983), are generally defined as material
handling robots moving stock and materials around the warehouse, following along
their pre-set path, and using wires, magnetic strips, or sensors for navigation. The
traditional AGVs have minimal onboard intelligence and obey simple programming
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guidance to move to predefined points. If it detects an object in front of it, it will
simply stop until the obstacle is removed (Otto Motors, 2021). An AMR, on the other
hand, is far more independent than AGVs by their degree of autonomy. The inclusion
of onboard intelligence systems allows AMR to take new routes without human
interference, bypassing the object blocking its path (da Costa Barros et al., 2021).
Moreover, the use of AMRs is necessary for e-commerce warehouses to save time,
keep costs down as well as eliminate human-based errors (Bolu et al., 2021).
Automated storage and retrieval systems are specifically designed to place, store, and
retrieve products and inventory from storage locations on demand. This type of
mobile robot can save floor area by increasing inventory storage density, where stock
is placed vertically in a compact space. Among all, AMRs are the most intelligent,
flexible, and cost-effective option (CYNGN, 2022). Besides, the rapid e-commerce
fulfillment, along with a large assortment of unique Stock-Keeping Units (SKUs) in
variable daily schedules has been challenging warehouses to look for investment in
innovative automated solutions, particularly AMRs (Ghelichi et al., 2021).
2.2. Milestones
Back to the early 1950s, AGVs, the first mobile robots were introduced and put to
use. Originally, these vehicles were simple carts, following pre-programmed paths to
move products around the warehouse. In the 1990s, the later generations of AGVs
were improved to use laser guidance systems. Then, it took more than ten years from
the development of laser-guided AGVs for the first fully autonomous mobile robots to
be developed in 2006 (Bogue, 2021). In other words, AMRs are the latest significant
upgrade and advanced version of the processors AGVs. In 2011, Amazon was a
pioneer to kickstart the addition of AMRs called Kiva in the warehouse and
fulfillment centers (Bogue, 2016), and Kiva Robots in turn did change the game for
the use of AMRs. The idea of Kiva is simple: “by making inventory items come to the
warehouse workers rather than vice versa, you can fulfill orders faster” (Guizzo,
2008). Later in 2012, Amazon announced an agreement to pay $775 million in cash to
purchase Kiva Systems Inc. and has since renamed it Amazon Robotics. As of 2022,
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