General Purpose Automation Changes the game
Since many retailers own and manage their own facilities, they are able to invest in fixed automation that would be too risky for a 3PL.
Fixed automation can be more efficient than flexible automation, but fixed automation can limit the flexibility needed for seasonality, marketfluctuations, or even pandemics where order mixes can shift from predominantly to stores to predominantly to e-commerce and then back to predominantly to stores.
If that fixed automation is idle for any reason, then it cannot be leveraged for a different task and the payback of the investment in that fixed automation is delayed.
What’s needed is automation that is not just flexible, but also general purpose.
Flexible, general purpuse automation enables retailers to quickly adjust to changing demands and meet customer expectations without