Geodis is among the customers using Vecna AMRs. Source: Vecna Robotics
“Robot wrangler” is supposed to be an up-and-coming profession, as warehouse associates reskill and join “AI whisperers” in the new, new economy. However, the ratio of robots to human supervisors will determine the success and scalability of warehouse automation deployments, according to Michael Bearman, chief customer officer at Vecna Robotics Inc.
Only 20% of warehouses used automation in 2023, reported Interact Analysis. As fleets of mobile robots grow, they need human monitoring and management, giving rise to the robot wrangler job title, said The Wall Street Journal. Such staffers are responsible for handling exceptions such as when a robot gets stuck because of obstacles or other vehicles in an aisle.
“We’ve seen 1:4 or 1:10 ratios of people required to keep robots going,” said Bearman. “Some people call such wranglers ‘robot babysitters,’ and old-school AGVs [automated guided vehicles] pose lots of challenges. For instance, these robots aren’t that connected, so you may not know where in a 1 million-sq.-ft. warehouse exactly where they are.”
Support needs to scale with robot fleets
“If a system is working well, having robot wranglers is not the best use of people’s time,” Bearman told Mobile Robot Guide. “Warehouse operators want to pay for a robot to do the work, not pay someone to get a robot to do the work.”
“There are also challenges on the economic side — fewer people want to be forklift drivers,” he added. “Also, robot wranglers may be higher-skilled employees, which doesn’t allay the concerns of associates on the floor.”
Bearman’s said his experience at Vecna informs his perspective on how to scale support of warehouse automation.
“I’ve been at Vecna Technologies since 2004, where I was Employee No. 36,” said Bearman. “I have a legal background and have worn a few hats. I’m excited to step into the CCO role, looking at deployments, software support, and getting more and more robots out into the field.”
Vecna Robotics spun out of Vecna Technologies in 2018. The Waltham, Mass.-based company provides autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and self-driving forklifts, pallet jacks and trucks, and tuggers, as well as the Pivotal orchestration software and its 24/7 Command Center.
“Our ratio of people to robots has grown significantly, and we’ve had success in finding talented folks for remote assistance,” Bearman said.
Pivotal Command Center provides round-the-clock remote monitoring and troubleshooting. Source: Vecna Robotics
Consider the customer base
The training and management of robot wranglers also depends on the organization involved. Over the past few years, AMR suppliers and integrators have shifted focus from retailers and brands to third-party logistics providers (3PLs), which have multi-tenant sites and different requirements for scale.
“Our customer base is largely retail and automotive, and 3PLs are taking us into food and cleanrooms,” Bearman said. “The ability to add barcode scanners and verify movement is especially important for 3PLs.”
“Once customers see the ROI [return on investment] of one site, they want to expand to four or five more,” he noted. “AMRs are not an experiment; they want reliability to expand.”
Vecna says Pivotal provides flexible support
“There are still things that robots aren’t good at, such as high-reach putaway, not including automated storage and retrieval systems [ASRS],” said Bearman. “We had one customer that had a bottleneck but didn’t know it. Manual and automatic vehicles tried to go through a single door, decreasing throughput by 50%.”
“Our robots and software are able to capture data, and our customer success managers help each user understand it,” he said. “Any robot can work well in a sterile environment, but there are no unexpected obstacles or equipment. A customer success manager looks at each customer’s data and gives opportunities to improve warehouse throughput.”
Vecna Robotics claimed that its Pivotal Command Center can ensure a 99.9% uptime for deployments, help identify new workflows, and enable innovation and new tech rollouts. In November, the company announced a performance guarantee to aid adoption of warehouse automation.
“This is a huge advantage for remote assistance — 95% of the time, the robots are able to complete their missions,” Bearman said. “There will be some persistent problems, like a blocked aisle, pallet debris, or edge cases. Of that, we can handle 4.5% of that remotely ourselves. The rest require local assistants, and we can use the robot’s sensors and cameras to decide what needs to be done and alert agents. The typical intervention takes 30 seconds.”
“We can focus on sites where traffic needs to be managed and can divert attention when trucks are on break and robots can go flying through a facility,” he added. “We’re able to flex, and with our queuing system, five agents could address one site simultaneously if needed. We’re also looking at gamifying the process of finding a problem and solving it quickly.”