Industrial
Ambi Robotics is installing new systems at eight facilities before peak season begins, as its logistics customers brace for higher volumes. The Berkeley, Calif.-based company is positioning its AmbiSort B Series to streamline final-mile delivery operations through automated induction, scanning, and end-to-end sortation.
According to co-founder and chief operating officer Stephen McKinley, logistics providers typically see a 25% to 40% increase in throughput each peak season. This year, Ambi expects its own customers to experience a 9% to 10% increase compared with last peak season. “Despite anything that might be going on in the economy, volume continues to ramp and e-commerce spending remains high,” McKinley told The Robot Report, adding that the pressure falls on clients to perform across all their individual sites — and on Ambi too, since its systems are core to those functions.
This year, Ambi expects its own customers to experience a 9% to 10% increase compared with last peak season.
Most of the new sites are running a new variation of AmbiSort, which McKinley described as “not a new product” but “definitely a new variation.” He said the company is focused on supporting that rollout through peak season and making sure it goes perfectly for customers.
Beyond hardware, Ambi is adjusting how it staffs for the rush. The company moves into what McKinley called a more reactive state, with about half of the team traveling to different sites to check on operations while the other half stays ready to jump on issues as they arise. Customers also have non-hardware options for raising throughput — McKinley noted they will often add more shifts to existing operations or bring on more people to work alongside the systems.
Ambi’s peak-season plan centers on getting the new AmbiSort variation live across those eight facilities before the rush and keeping field support fluid through it. The company framed the season as a test of execution at customer sites rather than a product launch.
Source: The Robot Report