Eileen Mozinski Schmidt Artificial Intelligence and Robotics respond to warehousing challenges
Technology is constantly evolving, and warehouse needs are frequently changing. The changes mean that advancing technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, are filling current gaps and improving efficiencies in some areas.
This month, Material Handling Wholesaler examines some of the latest developments in AI and robotics for material handling.
Robotic grasping
San Francisco-based OSARO has recently announced that it is utilizing AI to address a specific and immediate need: robotic grasping. OSARO has secured a patent for “Computer-Automated Robot Grasp Depth Estimation,” an AI-driven grasp depth estimation without the need for specialized sensors, according to a company statement.
“Instead of relying on pre-programmed grip strategies, OSARO’s robots learn to grasp new items by analyzing past successes and failures. This allows them to adapt to unstructured environments and handle difficult-to-grasp items, such as soft, reflective, or irregular objects,” the release said.
The company stated that the technology is already deployed in its fulfillment centers. “Our kitting and bagging customers require robots that can accurately grasp a wide variety of challenging items,” said Gemma Ross, Vice President of Operations at OSARO, in the statement. “This patent enables robots to adapt dynamically, improving picking accuracy and efficiency,” she said.
Ross stated in an interview with Material Handling Wholesaler that the key to the system lies in its automated learning component. She said, “It learns in real time and from itself.”
The OSARO system integrates with automated storage and retrieval systems to offer tailored picking and placing based on customer needs, according to Ross. The company overall seeks to develop solutions to meet labor needs in the industry, according to Ross. “The reason we exist is we have a labor shortage. Automation is really the only solution,” she said.
OSARO media relations representative Tim Cox said the company is focused on finding ways to migrate people away from “dangerous and mind-numbingly boring tasks.”
Ross agreed. “Our objective is to free people from mundane and hazardous tasks,” she said.
According to Ross, OSARO provides training to operators and maintenance teams to implement the robotic grasping system. The training is typically completed in a day. OSARO representatives stay on site after deployment until teams are comfortable with the technology and then offer 24/7 remote support. “Our system is quite intuitive in how it works,” she said. One of OSARO’s customers currently uses the patented technology Zenni, which is an e-commerce operation for eyeglasses.
“One of the main things for Zenni is really fast turnaround time,” said Ross, who said OSARO’s system has helped the company meet needs for speed and accuracy.
“We’ve done a huge reduction in quality errors for them,” said Ross, who said OSARO technology helped the company in alleviating labor needs as well as increasing quality.
In the industry overall, OSARO leaders see a need for the company’s products and services.
“While the amount of labor is going down, the amount of things people are buying online is still going up. There is a lot more potential to go forward,” said Ross, who said it is gratifying to speak with people on the job who love working with the robots and who share how the technology has improved their working experience.
“It always feels really good when I get to go on site and I get to see the operators working with this system,” she said. “These are people who already have the job, and now they just like the job better.”
Partnerships and trends
At Dematic, company leaders recently presented at ProMat 2025 on how the company’s technology can enhance operational efficiency, scalability, and adaptability in the evolving supply chain landscape, according to a company statement.
Dematic bills itself as “a global leader in supply chain automation solutions featuring advanced technologies and software empowering the future of commerce for its customers in manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution.”
Brett Webster, director of product management, was one of the presenters. “Amid today’s changing commerce ecosystem, such as high consumer expectations and increased complexity, it’s critical to invest in technologies that drive operational efficiency,” he said in an email interview. He said the discussion around his presentation would include ways to integrate AI within and beyond the warehouse.
“For example, predictive maintenance and vision AI are two technologies that are helping optimize warehouse operations,” Webster said. “Once the product leaves the facility, AI can help with inventory management, order allocation, dynamic dock assignments, and more.”
Earlier this year, Dematic’s parent company, the KION Group, announced a new collaboration with NVIDIA and Accenture. According to Webster, the partnership will help move toward a future of fully autonomous warehouses.
“We’re excited about the innovation this will bring to our customers’ operations,” he said, noting that the collaboration of the companies’ technologies “will leverage AI to develop realistic modeling simulations, real-time analysis, and process and flow optimizations.”
The partnership includes Dematic’s digital twin software, Accenture’s technology, and NVIDIA’s Omniverse ™.
Webster said artificial intelligence has had a “profound” impact on warehouses in the past few years. “I’m confident that this trend will continue,” he said. “The biggest opportunity I’m seeing right now is about the role of data on supply chain operations. Studies show that autonomous, intelligent supply chains are only going to grow over the next few years, and AI is going to be a big part of that.”
With the correct data, it offers an opportunity to optimize operations, identify risks and adapt to unexpected peaks in demand, according to Webster.
The challenge, however, is ensuring the data collected is high quality. “If you’re feeding your software bad data, you’re going to get bad insights,” said Webster, who said flexibility within automation will also be key. “The large, fixed systems of the past make it difficult to adjust quickly to fluctuations in demand, unforeseen weather occurrences, or geopolitical events, so flexible automation will be paramount,” he said.
Webster said another recent trend is the use of twin digital models to integrate AI to generate real-time simulations.
“Companies will be able to explore various layouts before construction, run predictive scenarios, and validate control systems and software to reduce risk and optimize decision-making,” he said.
AI robots for order fulfillment
Another innovator in the AI and automation space is Brightpick. The company offers AI robots for warehouses to easily automate every step of order fulfillment, according to Dr. Jan Zizka, CEO and co-founder. He said the business has more than 250 employees and hundreds of AI robots deployed with customers across the U.S. and Europe.
Brightpick’s robots work with standard shelving and totes and can be deployed in weeks in any warehouse environment, according to Zizka. “Our award-winning flagship robot, Brightpick Autopicker, is the only mobile robot in the world that robotically picks and consolidates orders directly in warehouse aisles, just as a human worker would do,” he said, noting that Autopicker can pick a diverse range of products using 3D vision and is AI-trained on more than a billion picks to date.
The company also recently unveiled Brightpick Giraffe, which is designed to work alongside Brightpick Autopicker robots. Zizka said it retrieves storage totes from upper-level shelf locations and delivers them to lower levels, where an Autopicker can access them. “This innovative system maximizes both density and throughput by storing slower-moving items on upper levels (accessible to Giraffes) and fast-moving products within easy reach of Autopickers on lower levels,” he said. “In a typical setup, the solution will include one Giraffe for five Autopickers, creating an optimal balance between cost, density, and performance.”
Zizka said Brightpick’s customers typically had been facing major issues with labor ability and cost. One customer, a large U.S. grocer, had to bus in warehouse workers from 50 miles away each day because they couldn’t find local labor, according to Zizka.
“That’s why our robots actually enable companies to grow and hire more people long-term as opposed to eliminating jobs, which is a common misperception,” he said. “We have never heard of a customer doing a layoff as a result of our automation – rather, we have always seen existing staff reallocated to other important tasks such as pack out or quality control or unskilled and trained to work with our robots.”
Zizka agreed with Webster that the flexibility of automation and AI technology is key to future success. “In today’s uncertain business environment, companies aim to minimize upfront costs and risks while maximizing their operational agility,” he said, adding that businesses need solutions that offer both scalability and adaptability without the pressure of capital investments.
What Brightpick can offer in mobile robotics is a boosted performance that has brought them on par with fixed automation systems like shuttles and cube storage, according to Zizka.
“As a result, mobile robots are rapidly gaining market share, offering the ideal balance of flexibility, efficiency, and scalability,” he said.
About the Author:
Eileen Mozinski Schmidt is a writer and journalist based in the Greater Milwaukee area. If your company would like to be featured, email editorial@MHWmag.com
