In Modesto, Calif., midday temperatures inside a carrier container can reach up to 140°F (60°C). For the workers hired to unload, sort, and palletize the hundreds of boxes inside, it’s a tedious, ergonomically challenging, and hot job. A robot called Pixmo helped address this task.
With more than 33 million sq. ft. (3 million sq. m) of warehouse space, Saddle Creek Logistics Services is one of the industry’s largest family-owned providers. And of its dozens of locations, its hub in Modesto has proven to be particularly strategic, offering port access in one of the densest states without the high costs of Southern California real estate.
But a primary challenge accompanies this region: hot, summer climates that can create high temperatures inside the carrier containers that unload daily at the warehouse.
Between extreme temperatures creating a dangerous work environment and repetitive, ergonomically challenging work, Saddle Creek struggles to hold onto its limited workforce. In addition, tight quarters and a limited footprint make it difficult for many automated systems to fit in the company‘s facility.
Saddle Creek automates receiving boxes
This is why Saddle Creek enlisted the help of Pixmo, an AI-powered box handling mobile robot, to take over the once-manual work of receiving boxes. Designed by Anyware Robotics, a FANUC-authorized system integrator, Pixmo and its patent-pending conveyor add-on are moving heavy boxes, while making Saddle Creek a safer place to work, the companies said.
A versatile, AI-powered mobile box handling robot, Pixmo takes on what was once a burdensome manual role, decreasing the number of supporting associates from four or five to one or two.
With a FANUC CRX collaborative robot arm and its conveyor add-on, Pixmo increased throughput for Saddle Creek while moving boxes much heavier than competing systems can manage, Anyware said.
Pixmo helps reduce injuries, make unload times consistent
Since Saddle Creek deployed it, Pixmo has picked more than 1.7 million lb. (771,000 kg) of product while transforming safety on-site. Dock injuries have dropped to zero for unloading operations, and employees have embraced automation while moving into higher-value roles, Anyware said.
The automation enables Saddle Creek’s team to reliably complete the unload process in under three hours, it added.
The ease of integration, which didn’t require major infrastructure changes or fixed conveyors, allowed Saddle Creek to quickly bring in a solution that worked within its existing footprint to create an immediate impact.
And since its initial implementation, Pixmo has expanded to support end-of-line palletizing as well, making it Anyware’s first unloading and palletizing mobile cobot system for the dynamic receiving dock.