The efficiency of manual work is limited. Goods are prone to quality problems such as defects during picking, counting, transportation and loading and unloading. Intelligent logistics is the future trend after all, and highly automated “unmanned warehouses” are close to reality. The labor cost in developed markets in Europe and the United States is high and the efficiency is low. Automated warehousing will be the only way for overseas warehouses to develop on a large scale. Focusing on WMS and wcs, a highly automated operation system consisting of integrated storage containers, handling and transportation, picking, barcode detection, and production systems will be the future trend. The complete system includes automatic storage and retrieval systems AS/RS (automated storage/retrieval system), high-density three-dimensional storage technology, high-speed sorting systems and AGV (automated guided vehicle), which can effectively improve storage utilization, picking accuracy and efficiency, and reduce the damage rate of goods.
Traditional light picking, RF (radio frequency) handheld picking, voice picking, etc. are still “people looking for goods” mode. Robot AGV operation has subverted the operation mode of traditional e-commerce logistics centers, and mobilizing AGV through operation plans to achieve “goods looking for people”. Amazon’s intelligent robot Kiva technology has realized unmanned warehouse operations. AGVs automatically sort items to work stations at each warehouse location, and the operating efficiency and mileage are 2 to 4 times that of traditional manual operations. DHL also provides EffBOT automatic trolley robots in its warehouses. In 2016, JD.com’s “unmanned warehouse” was first exposed, with AGV handling robots, Shuttle shelf shuttles, DELTA sorting robots, six-axis robots and other black technologies all making their debut.
There are still many areas worth studying in Amazon’s warehousing technology. Its big data application is perfect. In terms of accurate inventory forecasting, intelligent picking algorithms, packaging and distribution, distribution planning, transportation capacity allocation and terminal delivery, data-driven throughout; Amazon’s Cubi Scan instrument will measure the volume of newly entered small and medium-sized goods, randomly store and mix them, and achieve the best space utilization; the unique “octopus” sorting workbench for delivery can quickly distinguish the direction of the package; after exporting AWS (Amazon web services, Amazon Cloud Services) technical capabilities, Amazon exports its logistics services, such as providing warehousing operation services for NetEase Kaola’s Ningbo bonded warehouse, and designing and building a system and full-process operation system for it.