
One of the most significant consumer trends transforming the packaging landscape is e-commerce. Growing at a steady rate before the COVID-19 lockdown, e-commerce sales exploded at the end of Q1-2020. According to an article in Forbes, U.S. retailers’ online year-over-year revenue growth was up 68% as of mid-April. As of April 21, there was a 129% YOY growth in U.S. and Canadian e-commerce orders and a 146% growth in all online retail orders. While these numbers will no doubt decrease somewhat after COVID-19, most agree that they will remain higher than before the pandemic.
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When it comes to investing in e-commerce packaging capabilities, Robert McElmurry, Business Development Manager for Fanuc Fulfillment Group, advises that “the time is now.” Presenting during a Fanuc webinar, titled “E-Commerce Fulfillment Solutions,” McElmurry said, “We’re seeing a ton of investment in this space, especially given current events, things have really transitioned at a rapid pace. … if you’re not acting in this space, or at least thinking about how you’re going to automate robotically, it probably means you’re behind, and it’s time to get started.”
For e-commerce applications, ABB’s delta robot, the new IRB 390 FlexPacker™, will be launched at the end of 2020. The robot will support customized packaging, vertical packing, and high-speed, high-variation sorting and on-demand picking in logistics and e-commerce fulfillment centers. The IRB 390 is recommended for secondary packaging and higher-payload applications, with the speed and flexibility to support SRP and Retail Ready Packaging (RRP). According to ABB, manufacturers will be able to build a complete solution for pre-sorting and group packing by combining the IRB 390 FlexPacker with the company’s IRB 360 FlexPicker pick-and-pack system.
MHS's new robotic singulation system is designed to address the growing e-commerce order volumes, packaging variety, and labor challenges facing distribution centers.
Delivering a “cobotic” e-commerce handling solution, Universal Robots’ cobot Quick Deployment Kit is a scalable solution for parcel induction, case packing, and goods-to-person tasks developed by systems integrator MDCI Automation and Plus One Robotics. Using a vision engine powered by PlusOne’s Delivering a ‘cobotic’ e-commerce handling solution, Universal Robots’ Quick Deployment Kit is a scalable solution for parcel induction, case packing, and goods-to-person tasks.
Soft Robotics, a pioneer soft robotic automation systems that can grasp and manipulate items with human hand-like dexterity, has also engineered a system for the e-commerce market—the SuperPick™ Polybag Picking System. The SuperPick provides e-commerce operations the ability to automate the handling, scanning, and loading of outbound orders and returns of polybagged items or self-sealing mailer bags.
Soft Robotics SuperPick Polybag Picking System provides e-commerce operations the ability to automate the handling, scanning, and loading of outbound orders and returns of polybagged items or self-sealing mailer bags.
Read Packaging World's full 2020 Special Report: Robots Drive the Manufacturing Revolution