All of those functions have been automated, for quite a while. I used to see these machines at logistics trade shows back in 2006 to 2011. There are humans involved at times… usually transitions between stages.
The logistics industry is huge, well paid and generally unseen by the general public. Walmart is not a retail store company, it is a logistics company… with retail sales.
There are fully automated warehouses. No humans working in the warehouse whatsoever. But it has to be the right type of product for it to work.
That is the logistics holy grail… And yes, not all products can do that, yet!
I learned that Walmart paid to hand load shipping containers in China rather than load with pallets because the value of the space taken up by pallets was more valuable than hand labor on each end! There are pick-and-place robots that do that task now.
Walmart’s factory is extremely hi-tech and efficient. When a product is received in the warehouse, it averages only 45 minutes before it’s put on a truck to send to a store.
Ohh yes they are efficient. And that product is sold in about 53 days from the dock in China to that store… 37 days before the source is paid for the product Walmart has sold! 90 days net for payment.
Robots are now going almost everywhere!
I like the name… Pipebots…
I picked 1943 because Jo biden was born in Nov. and thought you might get picky if I picked 42. Could have picked any year from 43 on. Yes it is kind of a trick question. Joe has never changed his name. Nothing to do with ex presidents etc. What was the presidents name in …
No, a robo driver could not do that. But you also do not need a highly paid truck driver with a CDL to do that.
T<he robo tractor trailer is going to back itself into a tight spot or select the right door to back into? I am guessing that is a loooong way down the road. The cost savings between a CDL driver and a laborer to ride along to do all the city drivers other work are not enough to pay for the robotruck. The future of robotrucks is over the road.
There would be no need for long distance truck drivers if we hadan extensive and well run freight railroad system in this country. A single railroad crew could haul hundreds of trailer at a time, but too many companies don’t have a large enough warehouse to wait for a train to supply their goods.
Maybe not. Cars have had self-parking technology for several years, so a lot of tweaking & testing could probably make this possible for tractor trailers.
I knew that my new car had the ability to do parallel self-parking, but after reading the Owner’s Manual very thoroughly, I found that it even has the capability to back-into a lined space in a parking lot, align itself precisely on both sides, and to stop at the curb, or where the “rear” line is painted.
Edited to add that, in case you doubted the existence of this technology, here is an explanatory video:
WalMart and Bass-Pro Shop are our biggest China Importers.
I wanted to read the article but could not get it into a readable form with print large enough to read and still see a decent width of the page so I cannot make an informed comment.