Tokyo — Getting products from one place to another with as little human contact as possible is becoming an imperative for businesses as retailers, warehouses and transport providers adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to minimise the risk of infections to their employees and customers.
“Demand for humanless systems will keep growing,” Masafumi Okamoto, division manager at Osaka-based Tsubakimoto, said. More families are turning to electronic commerce to buy household goods, and the manufacturer is getting more inquiries for its automated equipment, he said. Above Robotics, a San Francisco-based start-up, offers services to stitch together various autonomous logistics and transportation systems. Its cloud-based software can get shipping companies, warehouses and driverless vehicles to communicate directly and handle goods with fewer humans in between. Above Robotics has had inquiries from companies in Japan, South Korea and other parts of Asia, according to Dirk Beth, a director at the company.
There are still a lot of areas where humans are needed in logistics facilities. If the number of staff in warehouses is restricted to prevent transmission of the Covid-19 pathogen, that could limit shipments and turn into lost sales opportunities, according to Takeshi Kitaura, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Mujin, a company that makes industrial robot controllers, said there’s booming interest for its solutions. Logistics automation is now seen as a way to prepare for emergency, said spokesperson Yuzuki Ishihara.
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