WILMINGTON, Mass. — Locus Robotics this week marked the grand opening of Locus Park, its new, 157,000-sq.-ft. headquarters. The warehouse automation provider also marked 4 billion robot-assisted picks across its worldwide customer deployments.
“As we settle into this world-class facility, we’re energized by our unprecedented growth, consistently surpassing our own productivity records,” stated Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “Our exponential growth reflects not just our success, but [also] the rapidly evolving needs of the global supply chain industry. With every pick, we’re not just moving products but the entire industry forward.”
“We’re seeing 80 to 120 picks per second,” said Faulk, pointing at a live ticker on the wall. “It took us seven years to get to 1 billion picks, and 11 months to get to 2 billion.”
Locus Robotics won an RBR50 innovation award for surpassing 2 billion picks in August 2023, and it passed 3 billion picks in April.
AMRs developed in response to real needs
From its beginnings as a the robotics division of Quiet Logistics to its current position as the largest North America-based provider of logistics automation, Locus has become an enabler of e-commerce “after the click,” noted Faulk.
In 2012, Amazon.com Inc. acquired Kiva Systems, forcing Quiet Logistics and others to look elsewhere for their robot needs, recalled Mike Johnson, president and chief operating officer of Locus Robotics. Since 2014, the company had domain experience that helped it become a leader as it developed autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that safely navigate and work with human pickers rather than in separate zones.
“We worked with students at Olin College, plus people from Kiva. We flipped the goods-to-person model,” Johnson said. “We have robots that are six years old and that come in for refurbishment. They’re still operating right alongside brand-new bots.”
Robots roll out at Locus Park, collect useful data
The Locus Origin AMR can carry up to 80 lb. (36.2 kg) and is nimble enough to pass through narrow aisles in brownfield warehouses, said Faulk. It has helped reduce walking time for associates by up to 70%, he asserted.
Some deployments start small, with four or five robots. However, true efficiencies are gained with large fleets that can operate in warehouses of up to 1.2 million sq. ft. (111,484 sq. m) plus multilevel mezzanines, as well as with a complex range of SKUs, explained Karen Leavitt, chief marketing officer of Locus Robotics.
About one charging station is needed for every seven robots, which can return to rapidly charge opportunistically. The LocusOne software determines where robots are most needed, and they can be useful for returns and putaway as well as outbound picking for order fulfillment.
Locus Vector, based on technology acquired with Waypoint Robotics in 2021, can carry up to 600 lb. It has already found use in unloading trucks, transporting heavy bags of pet food, and handling items that ASRS and other AMRs can’t.
“Locus did AI before it was popular,” added Faulk. “Our robots are data-capture devices and have driven over 37 million miles and collaborated with humans over 10,000 times, picking 250 million SKUs. We’ll know exactly who made the 4 billionth pick.”
The company is now applying the technology to optimize operations through intelligent orchestration, predictive insights, and new product development.
Customer base keeps growing
Credit: Joyce Sidopoulos, MassRobotics
During the grand opening, Locus gave a tour of its 20,000-sq. ft. (1,858-sq.-m) demonstration center, and attendees learned how to pick with robots in mere minutes.
The system uses a standard iPad as its user interface and includes numerous languages, said Kait Petersen, vice president of product marketing at Locus.
Locus Robotics has deployed more than 15,000 robots at over 300 facilities in 19 countries, Faulk said. Its 125+ customers are operating Locus Origin and Vector AMRs at scale, with the typical deployment of around 700 robots.
Locus’ customers include Boots, Carhartt, Cardinal Health, CEVA Logistics, DHL, GEODIS, and UPS Healthcare. DHL alone passed 500 million picks with Locus AMRs in June.
“Not only do we serve retail, e-commerce, and 3PLs [third-party logistics providers], but we also serve industries such as automotive and healthcare,” said Faulk. “About 85% of car parts can ship on a Locus robot, and half of the surgical parts in the U.S. — from artificial knees to implements — shipped with our robots yesterday.”
LocusOne, RaaS enable scalability
The LocusOne platform and robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model offer customers the ability to scale up or down as needed, Leavitt said. Locus expects to ship 12,000 to 15,000 robots as the holiday shopping season begins.
“Our main competitors aren’t other AMR providers; they’re manual operations and ASRS vendors,” noted Al Dekin, chief revenue officer of Locus. “We understand our clients’ problems and help solve them without rigid infrastructure.”
Locus also demonstrated “cloverleaf picking,” in which multiple robots surround a picking station. This provides a software-configurable team for surges such as free gifts with cosmetics sales, said Jasmine Lombardi, chief customer officer.
“Our software is not limited to three robots and one station,” she said. “Major customers have used it for replenishment from 10 pallets with no advance notice. It’s a dynamic conveyor.”
“We have an ‘HR toolkit’ that shows customers how adopting our robots can help solve labor problems by improving retention,” Lombardi told Automated Warehouse.
Locus Park is ready for global growth
Locus Park also includes an operations center, laboratories, a test space, and an area for custom branding of robots with customer banners. About 200 employees already work at the new facility, which consolidates some of the buildings the company has used since 2017. It has space for up to 200 more.
Locus employs robotics technicians, conducts assembly onsite, and recently welcomed students to show the desirability of careers in next-generation manufacturing. The company also works with regional contract manufacturers.
“Locus is proud to be part of the Massachusetts robotics ecosystem, which MassRobotics has helped lead as an innovation hub,” said Faulk.
With about 90% of warehouses worldwide still fully manual and persistent labor shortages, there’s plenty of room for growth, he said.
“We’re still educating companies on the optimization capabilities of our software, and on how easy we make it for them to digest automation,” said Petersen. “We’re selling a service, not hardware.”
Locus has its European office in Amsterdam and Asia-Pacific one in Singapore. Locus Robotics is also looking at deploying AMRs in airport hangars and cold chain, and it plans to reveal a new system later this year.