Supply Chain Resilience During COVID 19 and Beyond

Summary

在这段对话中，两位忙碌的高管，分别来自Beckham Robotics和SVT Robotics，讨论了他们公司在机器人技术领域的工作以及如何帮助构建弹性供应链。Matt Tarrouka，作为Beckham Robotics的业务发展总监，负责构建合作伙伴生态系统和管理一些企业账户。TJ，作为SVT Robotics的销售和客户成功副总裁，负责增长和合作伙伴渠道的成功。他们讨论了Vechna Robotics的自主移动机器人（AMR）技术，这些技术以其灵活性和高可用性而闻名，以及如何通过AI基础的车队优化软件来提高操作效率。此外，他们还探讨了Softbot平台如何通过无代码环境快速连接到多个仓库管理系统（WMS），从而加快自动化部署并提高供应链的灵活性。他们还提到了Quick Start计划，这是一个快速部署自动化解决方案的方法，可以在几周内实现，而不是传统的数月规划。最后，他们强调了自动化在应对劳动力挑战、适应不断变化的电子商务需求以及实现供应链灵活性方面的重要性。

Takeaways

• 🤖 Beckham Robotics和SVT Robotics是两家专注于机器人技术的公司，分别由Matt和TJ领导，他们讨论了各自公司在供应链自动化方面的专长和解决方案。
• 🚀 Vector Robotics以其高容量自动移动机器人（AMR）闻名，这些机器人能够自适应路径，提供比传统自动车辆更高的灵活性和正常运行时间。
• 🧠 Vector Robotics还开发了基于AI的车队优化软件，能够实时评估操作中的所有活动，并能够即时做出调整，以优化整个车队的表现。
• 📈 由于COVID-19疫情，供应链的弹性变得尤为重要，企业开始寻求能够快速适应变化的自动化技术来增强其供应链。
• 📦 客户面临的挑战包括处理大量非传统货物（如皮划艇和家具），Vector Robotics提供的AMR解决方案能够同时拖运多件这类货物，提高电商设施的效率。
• 🔄 SVT Robotics的Softbot平台可以连接多个WMS系统，通过拖放式环境简化集成过程，使得自动化解决方案的部署更加快速和灵活。
• 📈 Softbot平台允许用户实时移动自动化设备到新的设施，并立即开始操作，这对于构建有弹性的供应链至关重要。
• 🚀 Quick Start计划允许快速部署硬件，通过软件配置，大大缩短了传统自动化车辆部署所需的时间和成本。
• 💰 通过Softbot平台和Vector Robotics的技术，企业可以在不进行大规模资本支出的情况下，通过操作性支出（OPEX）模型部署自动化。
• 🛠️ 部署自动化的挑战在于变更管理，确保操作人员接受培训并了解如何与自动化设备协同工作，以及如何优化流程以适应新技术。
• ⏰ 快速部署自动化的可能性已经实现，企业可以在几天内部署弹性供应链解决方案，而不需要长时间的规划和投资。

Q & A

贝克汉姆机器人公司（Beckham Robotics）和SVT机器人公司主要专注于什么领域？

贝克汉姆机器人公司专注于开发高容量自动移动机器人，如自动叉车，而SVT机器人公司则提供软件平台，用于优化和连接多个仓库管理系统（WMS）和自动化设备。

Vector Robotics的自主叉车与传统自动化车辆相比有何不同？

Vector Robotics的自主叉车能够适应其在设施中的导航路径，不局限于固定路线，这使得它们在使用上更加灵活，并且能够在更复杂的环境下运行，具有比传统自动化车辆更高的正常运行时间。

为什么在COVID-19大流行期间，构建弹性供应链变得尤为重要？

COVID-19大流行加速了技术趋势，迫使企业必须携带更广泛的产品范围，并且需要不断重新配置制造工厂以适应快速的技术进步和市场需求变化。

如何通过Softbot平台实现快速部署自动化解决方案？

Softbot平台允许用户通过拖放环境连接Pivotal解决方案到多个WMS，无需进行复杂的定制集成，从而实现快速部署。

在自动化实施过程中，为什么变更管理是关键？

变更管理确保操作人员能够适应新的自动化流程，理解安全协议，并能够与自动化设备协同工作，这是成功实施自动化解决方案的关键因素。

如何通过Softbot平台优化自动化设备的行为？

Softbot平台可以连接额外的输入，如WMS或其他设备，允许用户部署自动化解决方案，并根据需要优化整个网络。

为什么说Softbot平台和Vector Robotics的结合为制造和分销公司提供了强大的解决方案？

Softbot平台和Vector Robotics的结合提供了快速部署、灵活性和优化自动化设备行为的能力，使得制造和分销公司能够快速适应市场变化，提高运营效率。

在自动化实施过程中，为什么安全性是首要考虑的因素？

安全性是自动化实施过程中的首要任务，因为确保操作人员和设备的安全是任何自动化解决方案成功的关键。

如何通过Quick Start程序快速部署自动化硬件？

Quick Start程序允许在几周内完成硬件的部署、培训和任务接收，大大缩短了传统上需要数月和大量工程资源的部署时间。

为什么说自动化可以提高设施的运营效率？

自动化可以减少对人力资源的依赖，提高操作的一致性和可预测性，同时允许更快地适应新的工作流程和市场需求。

在后COVID-19时代，制造和分销公司面临的主要挑战是什么？

主要挑战包括劳动力短缺、不断变化的市场需求和消费者期望，以及如何确保技术投资不会限制未来的灵活性和扩展性。

为什么说自动化解决方案的快速部署对于应对紧急情况（如疫苗分发）至关重要？

快速部署的自动化解决方案可以在紧急情况下迅速提高物资处理能力，减少对人力资源的依赖，并确保关键物资能够及时、高效地分发给公众。

Outlines

00:00

😀 引言与介绍

本段为视频的开场，主持人感谢两位嘉宾TJ和Matt在忙碌中抽出时间参与讨论。TJ和Matt分别介绍了自己所在的公司——Beckham Robotics和SVT Robotics，以及他们在公司中的职位和职责。接着，主持人引入了当前全球疫情下，如何构建弹性供应链的话题，并询问Matt关于Vechna Robotics公司的主要业务以及如何帮助构建弹性供应链。Matt解释了Vechna Robotics的自主移动机器人（AMR）技术，强调了其灵活性和高可用性，以及他们开发的AI车队优化软件如何实时优化操作。

05:00

🚀 客户挑战与解决方案

在本段中，讨论了疫情如何加速了对弹性供应链的需求，以及SVT Robotics如何帮助客户应对挑战。Matt提供了一个客户案例，说明了他们的AMR解决方案如何帮助电商客户处理非传统商品（如皮划艇和家具）的自动化运输。TJ则介绍了SVT Robotics的软件平台Softbot，它允许用户通过拖放方式快速连接到多个仓库管理系统（WMS），从而简化了集成过程，并使得自动化解决方案能够快速部署。

10:01

🔄 快速部署与灵活性

本段讨论了如何快速部署自动化解决方案，以及如何通过Softbot平台实现任务的快速配置。Matt解释了Vechna Robotics的部署过程，强调了其快速启动计划如何使得硬件部署和培训可以在几周内完成。TJ讨论了Softbot平台如何与快速启动计划相结合，允许用户通过无代码环境快速实现硬件和软件的集成。

15:03

🏥 疫苗分销与自动化实施

在这一段中，讨论了疫苗分销对自动化的需求，以及如何利用自动化技术快速应对大规模物流挑战。Matt通过一个假设的情景，描述了在疫苗分销期间，如何使用Vechna Robotics的AMR快速部署自动化设施，以及Softbot平台如何简化与WMS的集成，从而加快自动化设施的启动。

20:03

📈 未来趋势与自动化实施建议

本段讨论了疫情后制造业、仓库和分销公司面临的更广泛挑战，以及如何考虑未来的自动化投资。TJ强调了劳动力挑战、不断变化的电商需求，以及如何确保技术投资不会限制未来的灵活性。两位嘉宾都建议客户在实施自动化时，应考虑快速部署、灵活性和可扩展性。他们鼓励客户挑战现状，利用新技术实现快速、灵活的自动化部署，以构建更有弹性的供应链。

Keywords

💡自主移动机器人（Autonomous Mobile Robots, AMR）

自主移动机器人是一种能够在环境中自由导航的智能设备，与传统的自动化引导车（AGV）相比，AMR不需要预设的路径或基础设施。在视频中，Vector Robotics公司专注于AMR技术，其产品能够适应环境变化，灵活规划路径，提高运营效率。

💡供应链弹性（Supply Chain Resilience）

供应链弹性指的是在面对市场变化或外部冲击时，供应链能够维持或迅速恢复其功能的能力。视频中讨论了COVID-19疫情如何加速了对弹性供应链的需求，企业需要能够快速适应变化，比如重新配置生产线或调整物流策略。

💡自动化（Automation）

自动化是指使用控制系统和信息技术来控制机器设备，以减少人类对生产和服务的直接干预。视频中提到，自动化技术如AMR可以提高仓库操作的效率和灵活性，尤其是在面对劳动力短缺或市场需求波动时。

💡人工智能（Artificial Intelligence, AI）

人工智能是指由计算机系统执行的模拟、延伸和扩展人类智能的技术。视频中提到的AI技术用于优化车队管理，能够实时评估操作情况并做出调整，如调度额外的机器人或解决瓶颈问题。

💡快速启动程序（Quick Start Program）

快速启动程序是指一种快速部署自动化解决方案的方法，它允许企业在短时间内实施自动化技术。视频中提到，通过快速启动程序，企业可以在几周内完成从采购订单到完全集成的自动化设施的部署。

💡软件平台（Software Platform）

软件平台是指提供了一系列工具和服务，允许用户开发、部署和管理应用程序的软件环境。视频中的Softbot平台允许用户通过拖放连接，快速地将AMR技术与多个仓库管理系统（WMS）集成，简化了集成过程。

💡无代码（No-Code）

无代码是一种软件开发方法，允许用户通过图形界面和模型驱动逻辑来创建应用程序，而无需编写代码。视频中提到Softbot平台的无代码环境，使得企业能够快速地部署和调整自动化流程，而不需要专业的IT团队。

💡操作费用（Operational Expense, OPEX）

操作费用是指企业在日常运营过程中产生的费用，通常与生产、销售和管理活动有关。视频中提到，通过将自动化技术部署作为一种操作费用而非资本支出（CAPEX），企业可以更灵活地调整其自动化水平以适应业务需求。

💡劳动力挑战（Labor Challenges）

劳动力挑战涉及招聘、培训、保留员工以及适应劳动力市场变化等问题。视频中讨论了劳动力短缺对供应链的影响，以及如何通过自动化技术来缓解这一挑战，特别是在劳动密集型行业。

💡微履行（Micro Fulfillment）

微履行是指在靠近消费者的地点进行的小型、快速的订单履行活动，以实现快速配送。视频中提到，随着电子商务的发展，微履行将成为供应链中越来越重要的部分，需要灵活的自动化解决方案来支持。

💡远程信息处理（Telematics）

远程信息处理是指通过无线通信收集、传输和分析车辆数据的技术。在视频中，Vector Robotics的AMR使用远程信息处理技术来捕捉设施内的数据，如位置和障碍物信息，这些数据随后用于AI决策，以优化机器人的行为。

Highlights

贝克汉姆机器人公司（Beckham Robotics）和SVT机器人公司专注于开发能够在复杂环境中灵活操作的自主移动机器人（AMRs）。

Vector Robotics公司以其高容量自主移动机器人而闻名，这些机器人能够自动调整路径，提高了操作的灵活性和效率。

Vector Robotics开发的AI车队优化软件能够实时评估操作情况并做出调整，以优化车队运作。

全球疫情加速了自动化技术的发展，企业需要建立更有弹性的供应链。

Vector Robotics的技术允许在几天内部署自动化设施，而不是传统的数月规划。

SVT Robotics的Softbot平台通过拖放式环境连接多个WMS，简化了集成过程。

Softbot平台支持快速部署和实时优化，允许在不同设施之间灵活移动自动化设备。

通过Quick Start程序，可以在几周内实现从采购订单到完全集成的解决方案。

Vector Robotics的机器人使用3D激光雷达进行设施地图绘制，快速适应环境变化。

结合Softbot平台和Vector Robotics的硬件，可以快速实现自动化设施的建立。

自动化技术允许在不断变化的工作环境中进行快速调整和优化。

自动化解决方案支持操作者与机器人并肩工作，提高资源效率。

自动化技术的投资需要考虑未来的灵活性，以适应不断变化的业务需求。

劳动力短缺和不断变化的电商需求是制造和分销行业面临的主要挑战。

自动化技术的快速部署允许企业迅速响应市场变化，提高供应链的弹性。

Softbot平台和Vector Robotics的解决方案提供了一种快速、灵活且可扩展的自动化方法。

企业可以挑战传统自动化部署的缓慢过程，采用新技术实现快速和灵活的自动化。

Transcripts

[Music]

hello

tj and matt thank you so much for

well uh your time today i know you're

both extremely busy executives in your

companies

beckham robotics and svt robotics

i i guess i've briefly introduced you

both matt

you're the director of business

development at beckham robotics

and tj the vp of sales and customer

success

and all things related to customers uh

perhaps you could both start off by

introducing yourselves giving us a bit

of more context as to who you are

why you chose your companies and uh

essentially what is fascinating about

the robotics space vivo

i said matt tarrouka i'm a director of

business development at beckner robotics

so

i'm responsible for building out our

partner ecosystem

and for managing some of our enterprise

accounts

it's been quite a journey thank you so

much matt

and tj would you give us a bit more

color on yourself

yeah so thanks for having us t um as you

mentioned with

svt robotics responsible for our growth

and partner channel success as well as

end users

brilliant well i i guess to open

up the discussion i mean today we're

talking about

you know global pandemic covert and

now every executive is suddenly rushing

to build this resilient supply chain so

matt you knew i'd be looking at you so

can you tell us a little bit about what

is

essentially what does vacant robotics do

just to set the

scene for anyone who might be listening

or watching

and then talk a little bit about how do

you

as vector robotics help to build this

resilient supply chain

sure so at a

very high level uh vechner robotics is

probably most famous for being a

high capacity autonomous mobile robot

company

you know automated forklifts and

vehicles along those lines have existed

since the 1950s but to date they've been

these very pre-programmed

robots that required a lot of

infrastructure changes

and were mostly used in manufacturing

plants where you could really control

them a lot better as opposed to in the

warehousing space

vector robotics our technology is unique

in that

we have these self-driving forklifts but

they have the ability to

adapt their path as they're navigating

throughout the facility and so

by not being limited to these fixed

routes

it makes them much more flexible and how

you can utilize them in a facility and

it

makes them operate a much higher uptime

than a traditional automated vehicle

would within

these complex environments

and then outside the robots themselves

we've also

developed an ai based fleet optimization

software

and so that software is constantly

evaluating everything going on in the

operation

and it is able to make adjustments on

the fly so whether that's you know

detecting that there's going to be a

bottleneck in a certain area of the

facility and

finding a way to mitigate that um or if

it is just

um seeing that we need to dispatch

additional units because there's a spike

in throughput and the current fleet

can't handle that all that is done

autonomously

and so the combination of those two

technologies creates a much more

flexible automation solution for our

customers

but it still utilizes you know existing

form factors they're still used to

forklifts and everything but now you can

take the driver off of those

and it just allows them to operate in a

much more

natural way i would say

with regards to how that applies to a

resilient supply chain

you know people started looking into

these technologies

post akiva acquisition from amazon

and we've seen the amr space and other

automation

technologies along those lines start to

grow and grow

and kovid really just kind of

accelerated a lot of those trends that

were already happening you were

hearing a lot of talks pre-coped about

the amount of re-shoring that was coming

in about people

you know building out new supply chain

networks and this just really kind of

forced the issue of um you're dealing in

a world where

you have to carry a lot more a broader

range of product than you ever did

you know the pace of technology is

advancing so quickly that you need to

constantly be retooling your

manufacturing plants

um you know to pre-cover that might have

just been there's new product cycles

coming out but then you

were hearing stories about automotive

plants spitting out ventilators right

um and then uh in the ecomm space

specifically you know um

even before covid we were hearing from a

lot of our customers that like

their 2019 volumes had exceeded their

2023 projections

and then ecom has blown up 5x since then

so we're

all of this has just taken something

that should have taken five or ten years

to get there and just

squished it down into something that

needs to happen today

what does this look like can you just

give me an example of some

one of your customers right now what are

the challenges they're facing

how do they turn to you rather than

someone else and

how was this you beckner implemented so

um one of our public customers

they have had a growing increase in what

they call non-conveyables

um so people who are shipping like

kayaks and furniture and things like

that through e-com things that never

went through these buildings

um we provide amr solutions

that are able to tow you know dozens of

these

non-conveyables all at a time and sort

them throughout these ecom facilities

rather than needing to build out a

network of conveyor belts to do this

and this just provides a faster

um faster way to get automation within a

space

um you know the way to deploy becnus

system is we come in we drive a robot

around

the robot kind of records a map of the

facility in its head and then from there

it's

allowed to go basically wherever you

tell it to go

and it knows you know it's almost like

waze it

knows the five different ways and get

from point a to point b and it's always

gonna

you know on the fly pick the best way to

go about doing that business

okay svt robotics um

what is svt robotics doing how does

the can you tell us a little bit about

the software platform

why is everyone turning to you all at

the moment

certainly so i mean let's start off with

amazing technology from vacant robotics

right i mean much

if we summarize it today when you need

to add more

pork truck operators to your facility

you go to hr

you figure out how to staff what type of

job function do you want you interviewed

your leadership team is tied up

interviewing

staffing training six eight weeks if

you're lucky to bring on a person to

make them

ready to roll technology providers like

vector robotics

can actually reduce the amount of time

that it takes to put a fork truck

fully autonomous in your facility and

running exactly what you would want

these humans to do

but multiple shifts not taking breaks

not installing reflectors on hard

infrastructure etc

really enabling you to rapidly adapt to

automation

so the ai tool that matt mentions called

pivotal

can of course take measurements and data

from the vehicles

that it is connected to and that data is

things like where am i at currently in

the facility do i see blocking from my

sensors

things that a human would typically see

but i'm actually getting that captured

back in data for ai to take decisions

off of

and where the softbot platform comes

into play is we actually can now connect

that pivotal solution

to multiple wms's and it's in a

drag-and-drop environment so if you

wanted to deploy into a building that's

running a blue yonder instance

you're no longer sitting down with a

host integration workshop to define what

my message structures need to look like

to be able to understand the orders and

the tasks and the triggers that create

these assignments

and instead we can actually go ahead and

implement that in this no code

environment

just through drag and drop connectivity

on our softbot platform

and when you think about this

holistically this is what's really

exciting for us in the industry

is as a user now most of these

companies are multiple facilities they

have a large network

and they may want to bounce the

equipment around where peaks happen

towards your resilient supply chain

question but in some cases they even

have different wms's they have different

configurations required and historically

this has been a major challenge when

i've moved the

the automation to a new facility it took

another six

eight ten plus weeks to go ahead and

redeploy a fully integrated solution

and we're now able to do that in real

time and actually move that inventory

move the automation to a new facility

and immediately start that operation

through the softbot platform

and when i think about resiliency this

is truly the

unlock you now have great technology

providers like ebecno robotics

who can actually take standardized job

functions that you're hiring for

and i can now put automation in place

faster than hiring people

then secondly now also then i can

optimize the behaviors of this

automation

through the softbot platform connecting

additional inputs

whether or not that's from a wms and or

other equipment

and so what this really allows you with

our softbot platform is to go ahead and

deploy a becca hey i know i have this

many people today running

pallets from the dock into a put away

location or to a manufacturing line

i'll deploy vechna today and then six

months from now

deploy a new solution six months from

that continue to optimize the entire

network

with ultimate flexibility to take some

of those vector vehicles and redeploy

them into another facility

or add vehicles which is also really

fast with the vector solution

and so this is really the power of the

softbot platform combined with great

partners like

robotics so can you tell us a little bit

about

your connection with the quick start

program

how does the software platform how does

it connect with a quick start program

exactly

yeah so when you think about the quick

start program i'll let matt talk

towards the hardware um but you'll

you'll quickly realize that

the old world uh design process of

putting an agv or an amr into a facility

is no longer reality

um historically lead times on hardware

were 20 plus weeks right and then you

would get the hardware and somebody

would have to install reflectors or tape

or cut wire guidance tracks into your

floor and

and get commitments from all the

operators that the building is never

going to change my rack's going to

remain the same and that's where i

should install reflectors

and i can almost hear the laughter of

listeners other operators that say yeah

it will it will change as soon as i

install this because that's what happens

and so now becna of course has built

flexibility into this quick start we're

talking weeks

at most to deploy get hardware on site

train the hardware and actually re

receive tasks to go

derive from pivotal and so whereas the

softbot platform comes into play there

is

for all of these directed tasks the

order assignments things of this nature

from the wms or

wes all of a sudden we can enable that

to be on this very shortened

hardware and commissioning lead time as

well

really enabling a fully integrated

solution in just a couple of weeks from

purchase order

and then further to matt's point if

we're looking at a

non-capital extensive play combined with

a ras

or an operational expense and of course

you can deploy vechna now in this opex

model

and you license our connectivity into

the softbot platform so you're not

having to build a massive integration

which may cost hundreds of thousands of

dollars

so matt maybe you want to talk about the

quick start program from a hardware

standpoint

yeah exactly so we're um we're much more

similar to the google car

or the waymo approach than a traditional

automated vehicle

and we even use similar sensors so the

robots have 3d lidars on them they

create a full map of the facility just

the same as

you know a person would if they have an

idea of okay i need to get the aisle 17

which is

you know 100 feet that way and take a

left

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and so the actual deployment process is

very rapid once that infrastructure

exists everything's configurable via

software

um and so as tj was saying getting the

robots up and running

is very quick and then the issue

to date has been um typically a wms

integration

you're looking at you know their i.t

team getting in touch with our engineers

um like a three-month process um

you know tens of thousands sometimes

over a hundred thousand dollars

of costs sunk in from both sides when

all is said and done and this just slows

down

the process and then like tj said you go

to a

new facility they've got a different

version or a different wms

or something else has changed and now we

have to do a custom configuration again

and so this does open up a lot more

possibilities what you can

do with the robots in here and with the

quick start specifically

um i was mentioning like you know we've

taken these package bundles and

everything and then

um long term i think what we're looking

at is

you know you get to the point where

these much more complex workflows are

even

part of that where um you have robots

that you treat as a

you know almost like i said a monthly

labor cost essentially

you can get the hardware up and running

as fast as possible

and then you've got a software platform

that rather than me having to do

a custom integration with the wms and

also

a third-party piece of equipment i've

got a forklift taking a pallet over to

palletizing station and then driving on

the other end to

pick up completed pallets and having to

write all the custom code to make those

handshakes happen now i can just

um the customer has the ability to draw

those workflows out and

it's easier on the vector side it's

easier on their side you can get all

these things up and running as fast as

possible

and so we think the combination of those

two things is very exciting

so matt from story telling perspective

for your customers out there where can

you see this being actually implemented

with if you give a figurative example

of connecting both the software platform

and the quickstart program how how would

as a customer how would you uh how would

i see this

working sure um

so we are in the middle of a pandemic

um knock on wood some vaccines are going

to be coming out pretty soon

once those vaccines come out we are

going to be spitting them out as fast as

possible

and the distribution channels that are

responsible for

getting that out to the public you're

probably going to see customers taking

on maybe some temporary warehousing or

some overflow warehousing

so i've got a brand new building blank

slate

i need to move a ton of things as fast

as possible

through that building and if i wanted to

automate that historically

i would have needed millions and

millions of dollars and months and

months of planning

and a lot of people and a lot of

engineering and everything else

what i can do now is have this

relatively blank slick building

bring in some autonomous robots um

and so trucks come in we're taking

pallets and pallets and pallets of these

vaccines out

um we'll load them on to let's say

beckham tucker

um they're hauling you know 810 pallets

at a time uh we bring them into storage

um drop them off take them out to the

outbound take some pallets back out to

the outbound dock keep looping around

it's a great way to get more done with

less resources in the facility um

like i said historically if somebody was

going to do this

and they needed the wms integration that

is a painful operation for us but

through softbot platform

we don't have to worry about the

integration anymore and like tj said we

can

interact with other pieces of equipment

so

whether that is the um

the scenario that he mentioned the fact

that tuggers arrive and we're able to

send that

trigger back to the wms and that gets a

person to come and unload us as fast as

possible so that the robot and the human

are essentially

meeting as soon as the tiger arrives

um if we do need to change the workflows

where we

like do turn off you know we're only

going to focus on

product into the building or shuttling

product out of the building as fast as

possible

you can do that through the softbot

platform and then on the pivotal front

you know our robots and everything else

that's tied into our system will adapt

to that

and so we'll know to prioritize

getting these things done as fast as

possible

and it allows you to spin up an

automated facility

in a matter of weeks as opposed to

needing basically an entire year to plan

one of these out

okay well let's zoom out again a little

bit let's zoom out

to post covered world you know we're all

going to see

these fascinating trends so what do you

what are the broader challenges emerging

for the manufacturing warehouse and

distribution companies out there

tj do you want to take this one when we

think about

the future road maps there's a couple of

major

drivers that we can all agree on labor

is always going to remain a challenge

matt mentioned especially in pharma and

places where

maybe i've got freezer facilities in

food and beverage right

i don't know too many people that say

let me go work in negative 20. and so

labor will remain a constant challenge

in this industry of supply chain

two unknowns the volumes continue to

change rather we ecom

is it same day delivery there's great

companies like gopuff peapod and others

that

hey i can deliver to the consumer in 15

minutes is that really required

or is the requirement next day um

three years from now it may be everybody

expects same-day delivery right which

will constantly change the fulfillment

strategy micro fulfillment will become

even larger than it's growing today and

so i think

these are the major challenges is that

how do i make sure that when i'm

investing in technology

that i'm not limiting my future and

really enabling the

the fact that i can transfer equipment

from facility to facility or even as

matt mentioned across industries

so let's um in order to wrap up the

entire

conversation my question to you both

is when we're considering automation

or customers about to consider

automation do you

ask them to cruel do you ask them to

walk do you ask them to run

in implementing automation so

perhaps tj you can take that fast and

then match

yes certainly so from our space with svt

robotics in the softbot platform

it really comes down to the customer um

some customers have

infrastructure processes etc and they're

ready to

to execute automation at a at a fast

pace

um it always comes down to change

management inside the facility

and that's really key in our eyes right

when you bring on a piece of automation

you do want to make sure that

your operators are trained hey what's

the safety protocol of the equipment

right it's key

i think matt with beckman will talk

about the same right i mean safety is

paramount

in all of our minds but

it's really about change management

operationally how do we flow with

automation

to make sure that we haven't boxed

ourselves in and maybe sub-optimize some

other processes

um right i mean there's this constant

trade-off of hey i need to get the

pallet out the door

and so should the the fork truck driver

take it from storage and go directly to

a trailer

or should i drop it and allow a vector

robot to now transfer it

and eliminate that that non-value-added

labor of the long-haul transport right

and there's a fine balance there and so

this is in configuration etc

so traditionally what we say is look

we've eliminated

a lot of the concerns that used to drive

the crawl approach the crawl approach

was hey let me get two vehicles because

i don't believe that

the tech can actually work in my

facility because it's constantly

changing or it's dirty or people leave

stretch wrap all over the place right

and so with the softbop platform this

enables

vector and others to really deploy large

scale

but now that the equipment can actually

be leveraged across the network or other

facilities and

as we change management cleaning the

building and things of this nature

we can revise flows we can also re

redeploy the equipment elsewhere and

these types of things if you're

considering

automation challenge us i think between

the softbot platform and technology

providers like becna

we can come to the table with things

that people haven't considered before

for rapid deployment flexibility and

really this enabling

of a resilient supply chain so i'll let

matt kind of talk from his perspective i

think the quick deploy

process of course supports

rapidly bringing on automation no matter

if you want a pilot etc

and so the crawl approach at this point

the standards have been raised quite a

bit

to okay i want something that's going to

provide roi

immediately and then it gives time for

the operation to adapt to new processes

um automated systems just

behave differently than um how people

normally would people are really good at

dealing with

what's right in front of them and

they're good at firefighting and they're

good at adapting on the fly and

automation is much more

um it's going to be a lot more smooth

and steady

you know you know that the robots are

going to be able to handle a certain

volume and whatnot and they'll adapt to

what you need them to do

um but the marriage of those two

you know people working alongside the

robots and how that collaboration

happens

that's still a process that people want

to get used to and so you can bring in

solutions that you know are going to

provide value

let your staff get used to the robots

you know get used to their new

co-workers

figure out how you want to change your

processes

um and then start to scale up from there

and knowing that you do have

the hardware and software tools now

through these combined solutions to

still make those changes as time goes on

so in a nutshell you both provide

resilient supply chain solutions that

can be deployed in days that's literally

my takeaway from

today's discussion i just want to thank

you both for

your time and but also really describing

how this all works and so really

grateful to you

both matt tj from

the rest of your svt robotics and vector

robotics teams

for making this happen so thank you very

much

yeah thanks for having us t and uh i'll

just leave it that

challenge us if anyone uh doesn't

believe that you can deploy

fast flexible automation contact uh

either

myself or matt with vector robotics and

uh

we're happy to discuss what the future

of automation may look for like

in your facility

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you