DB Schenker collaborates with IAM Robotics to develop ‘The Warehouse of the Future’

With the goal of developing an increasingly productive, efficient, and fully flexible automated warehousing environment, global logistics provider DB Schenker is collaborating with IAM Robotics to blend leading-edge logistics technology into its operations.

This new collaboration is intended to serve as a foundational platform for the use of automation and robotics technologies to help shippers work smarter, better, and faster.

“This is an exciting time for the logistics industry, where a lot of great technologies and solutions are emerging,” said Joel Reed, CEO at IAM Robotics, a maker of mobile piece-picking robots that has been recognized by many organizations for excellence in technology innovation. “This alliance blends perfectly with DB Schenker’s own initiatives and commitment to innovation and new technology in e-commerce.”

By infusing flexible robotics and automation into the warehousing environment, logistics providers like DB Schenker are finding new ways to offset long-standing challenges such as the shrinking labor market and the demands of high-velocity e-commerce business models. Working together, DB Schenker and IAM Robotics are looking not only at how to improve today’s warehousing operations and improve their flexibility, but also at what those warehouses will look like 5-10 years from now—and what future technologies can be deployed to make those visions a reality.

“This is a true collaboration in the sense that DB Schenker knows the logistics industry inside and out, and IAM Robotics has an incredible depth of technological knowledge and innovation,” said John Stikes, DB Schenker’s Director of Innovation and E-Commerce. “By bringing these two powerful forces together, we can challenge one another and come up with solutions that literally take warehousing to the next level.”

For example, the two organizations are collaborating on the deployment of mobile manipulation solutions, or the type of robots that can both pick up and transport goods. “This is the goal that the entire logistics industry is working toward, fully flexible distribution solutions and models – the kind of capability that allows organizations to be responsive to the accelerated pace of change,” said Reed, “To achieve this vision, we’re having open dialogues about customers’ needs, a roadmap for the future, and where those two intersect.”    

“In the warehouse, fully-automated applications will be the key to sustainability and competitiveness in the new marketplace,” Stikes said. “Through automation, companies can achieve compelling economic advantages while alleviating their labor issues, and then redeploy that labor to more thought-involved processes and gain enhanced flexibility in their operations.”

About DB Schenker USA
DB Schenker is one of the largest integrated logistics service providers in the United States with more than 7,000 employees in 39 branches and 55 logistics centers providing over 21 million square feet of distribution operations to its clients. DB Schenker offers land transport, air and ocean freight, as well as comprehensive logistics solutions and global supply chain management services from a single source. Click here for more information.

About IAM Robotics
IAM Robotics provides fully operational intelligent, autonomous material handling solutions built for e-Commerce order fulfillment and material handling in logistics and manufacturing. IAM Robotics’ solutions provide a full answer to existing labor challenges and allow organizations to get ahead of competition in the race to automate logistics, without sacrificing financial returns. Click here for more information.