While Amazon.com Inc. and other companies have attributed layoffs to automation, technology should augment the workforce, not replace it, said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics Corp. As supply chains and logistics providers begin the holiday rush, robots can help them maximize and retain human staffers, he asserted.
“From our perspective, robots don’t necessarily replace people, but they make them safer and more productive,” Faulk told Automated Warehouse. “It’s about augmenting scarce labor and filling gaps that already exist. People don’t want to do dull, dirty, or dangerous work, and robotics can amplify higher-value tasks that they do best. At most of our sites, those who work with robots are the happiest and experience the lowest turnover.”
Spun out of Quiet Logistics in 2014 after Amazon’s 2012 acquisition of Kiva Systems, Locus has grown its LocusONE deployments, which include autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and an AI-powered orchestration platform. The Wilmington, Mass.-based company was recognized this year with its latest RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for surpassing 4 billion picks, and Global Growth Insights named it as one of the top 13 robotics companies in 2025.
“Robots are really growth multipliers as opposed to job eliminators,” said Faulk. “The analogy is that the elevator didn’t replace stairs; it minimized them. With systems like Locus Array, work becomes smarter and safer, plus there will be roles for people to maintain them.”
“Humans have higher-value roles than picking a tote from one slot to another and walking,” he noted. “The transition to this level of automation won’t happen tomorrow, but it will happen over the next several years.”
Locus Array features to include slotting
Source: Locus Robotics
Locus Robotics this week delivered its first Locus Array robot-to-goods (R2G) mobile picking system, which it announced in March, to a DHL site in Columbus, Ohio. It will be operational early next month.
“At DHL Supply Chain, we don’t just test ideas — we scale innovation globally,” stated Sally Miller, global chief information officer at DHL. “Thousands of Locus Origin robots are already transforming our operations worldwide.”
“Now, we’re proud to be the first to deploy Locus Array,” she added. “This marks the next chapter in autonomous picking and replenishment, and together with Locus, we’re ready to make it a success story.”
The warehouses of the future might not need more people, but they will still need humans to direct intelligent automation, Faulk predicted. There will always be a need to analyze data, structure workflows, and determine how to operate more efficiently in dynamic markets, he added.
“The value of robotics is in enabling staffers to manage workflows, not necessarily to do the physical work,” said Faulk. “We can take a building of several hundred thousand square feet, and we want workers to figure out how to direct Array units to be most effective in that building. They could determine how to use the data to set up order queues and pools, as an example, while Array does all the slotting.”
“We’re developing systems and agentic and physical AI to do that,” he explained. “We’re working on functionality in Release 1 that will automatically re-slot a building based on data reviewed by a supervisor. Locus Array robots will then move things in the building.”
Locus has conducted two separate pilots for Array, and it plans to demonstrate more functionality at LogiMAT and MODEX 2026.
Flexible fleets help customers with peak volume
While the AMR market faces challenges, Locus Robotics has reported increasing volume. It recently celebrated its 6 billionth robot-assisted pick.
“A lot of robotics companies are struggling. They’re not getting traction and are pilot hell because they’re not delivering value,” Faulk said. “We get validated based on the success we’ve had, and our solution works at scale. We’ve proven that across the globe every single day, and we’re the largest AMR provider in the world in our segment.”
“Peak season starts earlier every year. Volumes are literally going off the charts — we helped pick 50 million units last week,” he added. “Everyone is trying to level off their peaks, and we’ve shipped over 3,000 LocusBots for peak to clients around the world.”
He noted that the robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model provides features and flexibility without requiring a large capital expenditure. For instance, Booktopia said it expects Locus robots to help it increase throughput by more than 40% during peak season.
“Because of software enhancements, robots are among the few assets that get better over time, unlike forklifts and conveyor belts,” Faulk said. “3PLs [third-party logistics providers] often don’t know who their clients will be, and they need to do more than just scale up and down the size of their fleets.”
“Robotics is here to stay,” he concluded. “We went through a cycle around COVID-19, but all indications are that the market is picking up again.”
