Automation specialists Vecna Robotics has launched CaseFlow, a system which uses pallet-handling robots “for up to 90% of warehouse travel” using direct zone picking.

Vecna Robotics says the CaseFlow solution "orchestrates a fleet of Vecna Robotics CPJ pallet jack robots that perform all of the pallet-based travel in the warehouse and directs human pickers, equipped with connected wearables, with tasks generated from the site's existing warehouse management system".

The system has been designed to continuously prioritise orders and optimise robot routes and picking tasks. 

Vecna Robotics has been working with transport and logistics provider Geodis to develop CaseFlow, a system it describes as “a solution that could increase their case picking productivity by automating both robot travel and human work”.

The company says since it deployed its CaseFlow system at its Indianapolis pilot site, productivity has “more than doubled”.

“According to data from Logistics Management and Warehouse & Distribution Science, case picking comprises nearly half of all work in warehouse and distribution facilities, and up to 90% of that work can be made more efficient via automation, including travel time and paperwork,” Vecna says in a statement. 

“No wonder 45% of warehouse operators are looking to automate this workflow right now, according to a 2020 study in Forbes. 

“Vecna estimates that the current size of the North American case picking market primed for automation is USD10 billion annually.”

Vecna COO Michael Helmbrecht adds: “Warehouses and distribution centre operators have struggled to automate this critical workflow because solutions like conveyors and automated storage and retrieval systems are either too expensive, disruptive, or inflexible”.

He adds that solutions which “orchestrate the entire workflow” have seen improved effectiveness of semi-autonomous robots in warehouse settings.