Robo's "Group Control" Controls Logistics / AMR Special Feature III

Topic Interest in robots is growing rapidly in the logistics industry, which is facing labor shortages and the “2024 problem.” At the "Logistics AMR Forum 2021" held online on June 24, more than 700 people, far exceeding the initial capacity of 300 people, applied to participate and listened to four companies' lectures lasting two and a half hours.

Ryo Mori, executive officer of Laputa Robotics, talked about the new era of logistics robotics. Laputa Robotics was founded seven years ago. With two bases in Tokyo and Bangalore, it is a company with a wide range of technologies such as hardware, software, and AI (artificial intelligence).

The company's strengths are cloud robotics and robot group control AI, and since 2018 it has been focusing on the logistics industry, using the robotics platform "rapyuta.io" to transform many logistics sites.

Trends in the Logistics Industry - Gaps in Supply and Demand of Human Resources

As mentioned in Mr. Rozizard Kanazawa's presentation, labor shortages are a serious problem. This trend is expected to continue, with a 20% decline in the working population over the next 20 years.

As labor costs increase, profitable companies will fall into the red, and there is a risk that the business will not be able to survive if they cannot hire people. Improving productivity and labor saving is an urgent issue for logistics companies.

Benefits of introducing AMR

▲Ryo Mori Executive Officer of Laputa Robotics

According to Mr. Mori, there are cases where productivity has doubled with the AMR provided by the company. There are two reasons why the introduction of AMR improves productivity.

The first is that "walking", which consumes 50-60% of the daily work, can be replaced with AMR. Another reason for the productivity improvement is that in the past, one cart was assigned to one staff member, but with the introduction of AMR, multiple carts can be deployed to one staff member.

The advantage of introducing AMR is not only productivity improvement. Secondary effects include reduction of mental and physical burden, shortening of education period, and flexible response to demand fluctuations.

Companies that use technology to achieve success

Mr. Mori repeatedly stressed that "a company that uses technology to achieve success". Looking at the global market capitalization rankings, not a single company is in the top 15 most recently. The reason for the decline of the Japanese electronics industry is that it was unable to keep up with the evolution of technology and its competitiveness declined.

In the future, this trend will progress in the logistics industry, and it is expected that the industry will be reorganized as a result of accelerating the systemization of logistics and reducing the dependence on people. This is an era of both opportunity and pinch, and only the companies that master technology will survive.

Below, the full text of the lecture↓

Today, I will talk about the future of logistics under the theme of "What management and field members should know about new-age logistics robotics." Laputa Robotics is a company that was born seven years ago as a venture at the Zurich University of Technology, which is known for being the father of Albert Einstein. More than 100 members gather from 20 countries and continue development every day.

We are promoting our business with two bases in Tokyo head office and Bangalore, India. A major feature of the company is that it encompasses everything related to robotics, such as hardware, software, and AI (artificial intelligence). This is an important point, and it is generally said that there is a large disconnect between the worlds of hard engineering and software engineering.

In other words, even experts don't really know what each other is doing. It is a system that can be developed quickly.

In 2018, we began to focus on the logistics area. Starting with winning the Grand Prize in the Innovation Program sponsored by Japan Post in February 2019, in 2020, NEDO and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will introduce AI and simulations such as robot group control (skillfully coordinating multiple robots). We are receiving grants for the development of Experts in fields such as cloud, robotics, and logistics are gathered.

Don't call the logistics site a "3K" workplace!

I would like to introduce two of our technical strengths.

One is cloud robotics, a concept that combines robotics and cloud computing. Cloud robotics prevents robots from becoming very expensive or slow when requiring heavy computation and data storage on the robot itself. By offloading the load to the cloud space, even if the terminal itself is cheap, the main unit can behave smartly and quickly.

Another strength is the group control AI of the robot. As I mentioned earlier, it is an AI that considers the optimal coordination of multiple robots. Unlike the learning type, this AI works well from the beginning. We convey information such as what kind of ability it has, what kind of step it is, how fast it moves, and further define the goal. AI automatically thinks about how to use resources to achieve the goal in the shortest time.

You can also tell the restrictions, so if you tell the AI ​​that you want one robot to do this job, the robot will automatically move like this. What makes it unique is that the AI ​​makes decisions on its own without programming for each movement. Then remove the limit and tell the AI ​​to use all resources. Then, the robots will automatically start collaborating, even though I haven't given any instructions. The reason is that we can reach our goal faster than going back and forth one by one.

Even if a problem occurs in the middle of the process, the AI ​​understands that the work of two machines must be continued by one machine, and gives instructions again. In this way, our group control can ensure the continuity of tasks and control the appropriate number of robots according to the increase or decrease of the amount of material. All of the solutions we provide have this AI built into them.

The challenge we face as a company is to free humans from the 3K tasks of "hard", "dangerous" and "dirty" by utilizing robotics. By making it possible to easily perform jobs that used to be hard work with the power of robotics, we believe that elderly people, women with weak strength, and people with handicaps will have options to perform various jobs. However, as you all know, robotics has not yet penetrated.

In the logistics industry, it is said that only about 5% of warehouses are automated, but why?

That's because automation solutions are only available to a limited number of large companies. In order to keep up with changes in the environment and tasks, it is necessary to change the settings.

Furthermore, because it is difficult to coordinate across manufacturers and it is difficult to use it, it is difficult to use it because it is difficult to achieve cost-effectiveness even though the initial investment is high.

Overall optimization of warehouses through platformization

To solve this problem, we are working on a solution called the "Laputa Io Robotics Platform." In today's robot development, we recreate the robot from scratch according to the work (requirements) given and the environment. That inevitably takes a lot of man-hours and time, so it is expensive, but on the other hand, there are certainly parts that are common to all robots.

The final robot can be completed by providing such parts as a group control AI for the robot or by providing common software as a package. The benefit for users is that cheaper and smarter robots will be born. What kind of things will be born on this platform?

This is an example of a solution created by ourselves using our platform. picking assist AMR, automated forklifts, and logistics center automation. Automated forklifts are automated by installing sensors as retrofits, and multiple units are already operating in coordination. Distribution center automation is a collaboration between different hardware and manufacturers. Laputa io's strength lies in its ability to achieve collaboration across these types of maker robots.

In this way, what we are aiming for in the medium term is total optimization of warehouses using Laputa/IO. Of course, warehouse work is a collection of complex adjustments, so we apply different robots to different packing styles and optimize by realizing automation of lines rather than points. I think that the range of utilization will expand by applying such things as forklifts, arms, and AMRs to pallets, cases, and pieces.

Prepare for the supply-demand gap of human resources with AMR "group control"

Continuing, I would like to touch on the supply-demand gap of human resources in the logistics industry. This is a document from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, but the horizontal axis shows the time axis, and the vertical axis shows the surplus or shortage of human resources. Since the solid horizontal line is zero, above this line there is a shortage of human resources in the industry as a whole. Since 2009 after the Lehman shock, the trend has changed to the shortage of human resources.

In 2020, the shortage of human resources has been temporarily eased due to the corona crisis, but it is rising again. This trend is expected to continue, and labor costs in the logistics industry continue to rise. The numbers vary depending on the data, but I often hear stories about a 12% increase over the past five years and a 10% increase over the past three years.

So, what kind of financial impact will such wage increases have on logistics companies and distribution centers? For example, in a company with sales of 100, if expenses are 35 and labor costs are about 60%, it is an image of 5 remaining profits. What would happen if labor costs rose 10% from now? If labor costs rise from 60 to 66, profitable companies will fall into the red. It can be seen that the rise in labor costs has a significant impact on management.

This is not the only real problem.

If you can't hire people in the first place, it will impact the continuity of your business. The Population Research Institute predicts that the most shocking thing is that we can already see a whopping 20% ​​reduction in the workforce over the next 20 years. There are basically two things you can do to prepare for this.

One is to increase productivity, and the other is to implement labor saving. I think that if you listen to the story of Laputa AMR while understanding such a background, you will be able to understand it more deeply.

The feature is that it can be introduced without changing the layout of the warehouse. The monitor display is easy to understand, so even newcomers can quickly achieve the same productivity as experienced people. Another point is that it is a robot that cooperates with people.

In April 2020, this type of robot was commercialized for the first time in Japan. It is a mechanism that receives order data from WMS and moves the robot. Manual upload is also possible, and it is also possible to flow the order file into the system as a CSV file.

The group control AI from earlier makes the optimal allocation and loads this container onto the robot as a setup task. This is to check which order is in which container in the post-process. Eventually, the robot will stop in front of the picking target and give instructions to the worker on the screen. Pick up the item, scan the barcode for temporary inspection, press the Done button, and the next location to go to will be displayed.

Point is, this location is not where this robot goes. When the worker goes here, information is displayed that other robots are waiting or will come soon. This makes it possible to achieve automation in a one-to-many manner, rather than one-to-one workers working with robots. Customers who have introduced the system say that they have achieved significant cost reductions and improved productivity.

Then why does this AMR solution increase productivity? Let me explain.

In the case of cart picking, you go around the site and pick up things in a single stroke like this. In general, it is said that 60% of the working time in a day is spent walking or searching for products. The essence of this AMR solution is to reduce this walking time and let humans do the work that is difficult for robots to automate. By doing so, AMR will take care of long-distance walking, so people will not have to walk around much, and they will be able to pick up a lot of things.

One thing I would like to emphasize is that this is not a one-to-one relationship, but a one-to-many relationship. As a rough ratio, 2 or 3 robots are deployed for 1 worker and move dynamically to perform picking.

The strength of AMR is that it can move autonomously and flexibly

Next, we will look at sites that are compatible with AMR. Typical sites that work well are electronic parts, clothing, small items, and other items that are relatively small and can fit in a 50-liter container. increase. As a trend, if you spend more than 40% of your walking time during the day's work, we think that it will be effective. Since multiple robots will cooperate, I think it would be better if the floor area was somewhat large. As an image, if it is at least 1000 square meters and 10 workers or more, I think that the performance will be solid.

Regarding the contribution to labor-saving and labor-saving, the direct effect is to control labor and recruitment costs, but the point of the AMR solution is that the secondary effect cannot be overlooked. One is the reduction of physical and mental burden by reducing walking time. When I asked people who actually worked at the site, I heard that it was difficult to walk while pushing heavy carts while being careful not to hit shelves or workers. Since AMR moves freely, it is very easy to work hands-free.

Another secondary effect is the reduction of teaching time. Even newcomers can use it right away, so even part-timers and temporary staff can be productive immediately, especially during the busy season.

Finally, it is a flexible response to demand fluctuations (waves). If the amount of goods increases more than expected, we can increase the number of units, and as an emergency response, we can increase the number of people working with the robot or run manual picking in parallel, so we can respond very flexibly. can.

I would like to talk about the introduction of AMR and the support after the introduction. I think the biggest verification point is how effective it is when considering the introduction of material handling equipment. The actual warehouse layout, planogram information, shipping batches, operation models, and the software running on the robot itself are put into the simulation space to create a virtual twin.

This makes it possible to verify the effect after introduction in a very precise manner. For example, you can check how many robots, how many people, and how much productivity can be achieved. Since it is a new solution, I think the point is that you can expect a solid effect and introduce it. The goal is not just to introduce it, but the most important thing is to make sure that you use it properly and produce results. That's why our team regularly visits the site, performs performance analysis, conducts meetings to give feedback, and make suggestions from us.

Will a technology-savvy company dominate the logistics 4.0 era?

Finally, I would like to leave you with a message that "Companies that master technology will succeed." In 1989, a large number of Japanese companies were ranked high in the market capitalization ranking of global companies, but 20 years later in 2008, not a single company was in the top 15. 2018 is no different.

The decline in the global presence of Japanese companies is often associated with the recession of the Japanese electronics industry. Major divisions of large corporations such as Sanyo Electric, Sharp, and Toshiba have been acquired by foreign companies, and I think that there is a tendency for their competitiveness to decline.

It is often pointed out that the reason for this is that the change in business models and ovation models in response to technological changes was slower than overseas. In contrast, such changes have yet to occur in the logistics industry. The reason for this is that the individualized logistics process eventually became a bulwark that hindered change in the industry.

But that situation is changing now. Many people may have heard the term Logistics 4.0, but this concept summarizes the timing of major changes in the world of logistics from 1.0 to 4.0.

The era of 1.0 is the early 20th century, the "mechanization of transportation" by trucks and railroads. In the era of 2.0, "automation of cargo handling" will occur, and forklifts and automated warehouses will appear. In the 1980s, WMS appeared and "systemization of management and processing" progressed. And we are now in the era of 4.0. With the emergence of warehouse robots, 4.0 is the era in which the networking of the supply chain itself will accelerate.

In other words, we are in an era where the things that "protected" the industry from change are disappearing. If we do so, the shackles that make industry reorganization difficult will disappear, and changes will occur more and more. In this era, companies that use technology will be successful. I think the theme is how to use technology in an era of both opportunities and pinches.

But I hope it's not too difficult. The world changes when you try to understand it. So, to show you how easy it actually is, let me explain how the robot works.

Simple 3 steps, but first create a map. The robot itself runs on site to create a map, and step 2 gives meaning to that map. Finally, the robot itself uses a laser sensor to grasp the world it sees and understands its own position by comparing it with the map it has.

If you know your position, you know how to move when you are told your destination, and you can move. This is exactly the same as what humans do. It's a bit difficult to understand robots deeply, but it's very easy to understand how to use them, and I think that's the point.

What I really want to convey here is that it is most important to use technology as a tool.

There are three important things to consider. The first is the discovery of appropriate usage of robots. When you put a robot in a process somewhere, there will always be a pre-process and a post-process. The big point is how to connect this, how to connect it not only as a system but also as an operation.

The second is to secure a recovery system in the event of an error. As with any system or robot, errors will inevitably occur. It is important to have a solid system in place so that you don't get stuck.

Finally, leave freedom for the future. This is not just a systemic treatment, but rather than throwing it all to the vendor, it is to accumulate a series of processes of creating and introducing automation as know-how. I think this is very important.

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