Customer Overview
One of USA’s largest home improvement retailers operating scores of distribution centers and stores nationwide. With a vast supply chain network, efficient unloading of inbound trailers was a critical aspect of its logistics operations. Due to the labor-intensive and physically demanding nature of unloading floor-loaded trailers, the retailer had been exploring solutions to automate unloading floor loaded trucks.

The Challenge
The customer has been a pioneer in adopting cutting edge automation and robotic solutions.
They tried out almost all the floor loaded unloading robotic and automation solutions in the market. However, none of these solutions could solve their unique unloading challenge. They had a very high variability of incoming goods: – Many products were heavy and lacked sufficient cross-sectional area for existing solutions to grip- Torn or uneven surfaces made vacuum-based grippers unreliable requiring constant manual intervention- Small, deep boxes were difficult to pick up.- Boxes varied from as small as 10 inches to as large as 50 inches, as light as 15-20 lbs to as heavy as 70-80lbs- Trailers/ containers varied from very well structured, few SKUs to highly unstructured, multiple SKUs. The existing solutions could neither handle this variability nor provide a throughput which was even close to manual operations. Multiple manual interventions were required, defeating the purpose of automation.

The Solution

Rightbot’s Wolverine robot was piloted at one of the customer’s regional distribution center,
which handled a very wide variety of goods. On Day 1 itself, after a setup time of <6 hours, Wolverine was fully operational and unloading trailers. Wolverine was used to unload a variety of trailers – Trailers with a semi-structured loading of goods ranging from 5 inches to 3 feet in dimensions, and weights between 2 lbs to 75 lbs, trailers with large boxes packed in a highly structured manner, trailers with small heavy boxes with very tight walls Wolverine’s unique scooping mechanism allowed it to handle all the variability in the goods, making the nature of the load irrelevant to its performance.

Results & Impact

Wolverine demonstrated exceptional performance, far exceeding the capabilities of both manual unloading as well as other robotic solutions. The key outcomes included: – Throughput of 2,500-3,000 unloads per hour – Adaptability to any type of goods, eliminating the need for manual interventions – Damage rates no higher than manual operations

Conclusion
Rightbot’s Wolverine proved its ability to tackle the toughest trailer unloading challenges, delivering unmatched efficiency and flexibility. Unlike traditional robotic solutions that struggle with varied goods, Wolverine excels in handling any type of load with ease.

Are you facing similar issues in your trailer unloading operations and want to see how
Wolverine can help you eliminate these challenges? Contact us now to learn more!