Robotics in action

摘要

Zappos.com (Henderson, Nev.), a popular online retailer of shoes, clothing and other items, recently moved into an 832,000 square foot building. Initially, it was only using half of that space, and the other half was reserved for future growth. The plan was to rely on conventional static racking and conveyors. Before acting on that expansion plan, Craig Adkins, vice president of services and operations, investigated a mobile fulfillment system. Before dismissing it as too expensive, he visited a facility that was using it. Impressed, he then spent almost a year conducting an economic analysis. After looking at four different options, the robotic system turned out to be the least expensive-considering cost of capital, cost of operation, and cost of labor. What tipped the balance was the system's scalability.