Industry News

Take a look inside Bastian Solutions client Amazon India and the order fulfillment system that allows them to deliver ecommerce packages in less than 24 hours.

The latest technologies offer powerful ways to boost speed and accuracy in warehousing and distribution facilities, but in the face of e-commerce, the Amazon effect and fierce competition, the most important metric is uptime. As the circulatory system of a facility, conveyor systems are already playing a critical role in the transformation to “smart” operations.

Inventory management in an on-demand world isn’t easy today, and it doesn’t seem poised to get much easier anytime soon. In fact, real tension exists between the brick-and-mortar side of the house and the e-commerce side.

Grocery retailers are taking a closer look at their order fulfillment strategies in the face of a growing consumer appetite for online grocery shopping, a situation that is piquing their interest in automated fulfillment solutions, robotics, and small-scale distribution centers designed to get products closer to customers.

After a long, successful and notable career, Bill Bastian Sr., current employee and former owner and board member of Bastian Solutions, is announcing his retirement from the company at the age of 88.

Bastian Solutions, a Toyota Advanced Logistics company, hosted a line-off event at the company’s new advanced manufacturing facility located in Westfield, IN, just a short drive north of its corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. The event celebrated the first piece of ZiPline Conveyor fabricated at the new location.

Though the use of futuristic technologies such as drones and augmented reality is on the horizon, most experts agree that the major trend in the year ahead will be the expanded use of more recently proven technologies—such as goods-to-person fulfillment systems—that can deliver the best return on investment (ROI).

As consumers we constantly hear the hype about technologies like driverless cars and aerial delivery drones, but the reality is few of us have ridden in a fully autonomous vehicle or had a drone hover onto our porch with an e-commerce order. In the warehousing world, a similar dynamic is at play with smart glasses.

Historically, we talked about warehouses as being manual or highly automated. Manual warehouses are more flexible, they adapt much more easily to change. Highly automated warehouses have much higher throughput, but their cost and lack of flexibility can make them a risky investment.

Numerous types of autonomous robots are roving warehouses today, with one shared goal: drive efficiency and save labor costs.

Bastian Solutions, a global material handling and robotics systems integrator, announced today the opening of its newest office in Tampa, FL. The expansion brings local support to better serve existing Bastian Solutions clients as well as the opportunity to assist new customers with their automation needs.

The evolution of the warehouse and distribution center is causing a revolution in automated solutions for everything from picking to loading, as robotics R&D accelerates.