More and more of the supply chain needs to be, and can be, automated. Demographics, particularly in the developed world, are driving labor scarcity. Additionally, in manual material handling turnover, injury rates and absenteeism are rampant. Fortunately, modern warehouse robotic systems are becoming able to see and manipulate cartons and bags at levels of speed and dependability that can deliver strongly positive ROI to supply chain operators. However, moving such systems into production in the complexity of real-world warehouses requires exceptional levels of product capability and rigor around testing and deployment practices. Many equipment vendors reach the pilot stage, then fail to break through to production due to the absence of this rigor. This talk will focus on three core principles of successful production deployments: complexity acceptance, test set design and early customer collaboration.
Real-World Deployment of Mobile Material Handling Robotics in the Supply Chain
Session Speakers
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Peter Santos
Chief Operating Officer, Pickle Robot Company
Peter Santos is active as an executive, board member, advisor and consultant working in robotics, wireless networks, semiconductors and battery technology. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Pickle Robot Company, and his recent operating roles include CEO of Audience, a publicly traded mobile processor provider. Santos joined Audience in 2004, took the company public in 2012 and led it to a strategic sale in 2015. From 2015 to 2017, he was General Partner at Blue Bear Ventures. He also was executive advisor and CEO of GuRu Wireless Technology, a Caltech-based wireless power transfer company from 2017 to 2019. Peter currently serves on the board of directors at MonoLets, Inc., and previously served on the board of directors of Audience (NASDAQ: ADNC) and Cavendish Kinetics (acquired by QRVO). He holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Colby College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina.
