In late summer 2024, Amazon announced it signed a non-exclusive license to use Covariant’s large language models and hired the company’s founders (plus a quarter of its staff) to “accelerate [robotic] innovation and the benefits it will provide.” Around the same time, RightHand Robotics announced a new funding round and reintroduced its former CEO. These events signaled a major shakeup to the robotics automation industry, showing just how much it is expected to grow in the coming years. Interact Analysis predicts the robotic picking market (worth $236 million in 2022) will reach $6.8 billion by 2030. They point to rising labor costs and supply chain constraints as key drivers for the market along with the growth of e-commerce and warehouse automation.
What lies beneath the surface, however, paints a less rosy picture for many of the industry’s players. In a mad dash to meet demand and accelerate growth, many companies bit off more than they could chew and tried to be a one-stop shop for complete solutions for every industry and region. Software providers moved into the robotics game; robotics manufacturers began creating custom software solutions; they all expanded into new markets without understanding their needs and nuances; customers started buying into promises rather than proven outcomes. In the end, these companies spread themselves too thin, shifting their focus from what they did best and failing to deliver on the promises they made to customers.
Fizyr took a different approach. We opted instead to narrow our focus and concentrate solely on our expertise: advanced computer vision we call Fizyr Panoptic™. By taking a hardware-agnostic approach, Fizyr Panoptic™ integrates with all major robotic systems, cameras and end effectors on the market, enabling robots to see, perceive, account for variances, learn and perform more successfully than any other robotic vision. By focusing solely on vision and leaning on our renowned partners to do what they do best (no matter their industry vertical or geographic region), Fizyr Panoptic™ delivers unprecedented success rates of up to 99.99% for detection, picking and placement use cases in logistics, laundry, food processing, identification and more.
To ensure we could meet the needs of clients, we integrate with best-of-breed automation component providers in our Fizyr Partner Program. For off-the-shelf solutions, we worked with our partners and developed Fizyr certified Vision Packs to address some of the most common use cases: singulation, pick & place, trailer/container unloading, palletization/depal, detection and laundry. These proven solutions already pay dividends in real-world implementations:
AWL and Vanderlande Deploy Fizyr to Solve DHL Parcel Induction Bottleneck
DHL Express needed an automated process to reliably pick and place parcels from randomly mixed pallets onto conveyor belts to eliminate problematic bottlenecks at its Benelux sorting facility. DHL turned to leading integrators Vanderlande and AWL; to ensure the highest success rates in this highly dynamic environment, AWL partnered with Fizyr for its advanced vision and paired it with gripping technology to enable it to handle packages of various sizes and weights. The custom solution lifts up to 31.5 kg (69 pounds), processes up to 800 parcels per hour with 99.99% accuracy and utilizes two integrated pallet stations to maximize efficiency.
Fizyr and AVT Europe NV Solve Heavy Bag Depalletization
AVT Europe NV – owned by Vinci Group -.to built and deployed a heavy bag depalletizing solution for multiple end users, partnering with Fizyr for advanced computer vision to collect more and better data faster for improved accuracy, speed and reliability. It picks and places heavy bags exceeding 25 kg (55 pounds) from variable pallet stacks at a rate of more than 400 bags per hour. These robotic cells automate one of the most difficult, dangerous and hard to staff jobs in the supply chain and provide a critical competitive advantage to food manufacturers and other dry goods processors.
Conclusion
When companies seek to gain a first-mover advantage in a rapidly expanding industry, there are risks involved for both those companies and their customers. By shifting their focus from what they do best to try and fulfill every need of every market, the quality of their offerings can suffer. For customers in desperate need of reliability to overcome business challenges, poor performance and increased error rates can do more harm than good.
No single company can solve every problem for every market. By staying focused on what we do best and letting our best-of-breed partners do the same, Fizyr has delivered unparalleled reliability and performance, exactly what our customers need. For more information on how Fizyr can help you achieve your automation goals, contact us today.