Pitney Bowes and Ambi Robotics started a $23 million deployment
expansion of AmbiSort systems in Pitney Bowes ecommerce hubs across
the US. The AI-powered robotics will help Pitney Bowes speed parcel
sortation to last-mile delivery providers, while improving
productivity, accuracy and worker safety as the company’s shipping
and ecommerce businesses surpass 50% of total revenue. Pitney Bowes
will make the investment in Robot as a Service (RaaS) fees over the
next four years.
The expansion follows a successful deployment at the Pitney Bowes
Stockton, Calif. ecommerce hub, where Pitney Bowes used AmbiSort
systems to successfully sort parcels during the 2021 peak holiday
season, nearly doubling the throughput for parcel sortation to local
direct delivery units.
“As we continue to scale our Global Ecommerce business, Pitney Bowes
is working with some of the most innovative companies in the
industry to configure new solutions that improve our service
offerings and make B2C ecommerce logistics easier for our clients,”
said Gregg Zegras, EVP and President of Global Ecommerce at Pitney
Bowes. “The deployment of AmbiSort AI-powered systems is part of our
long-term plan to further enhance our technologically efficient,
employee and client-friendly ecommerce logistics network.”
Ambi Robotics is powered by AmbiOS, the advanced AI operating system
that leverages simulation-to-reality (Sim2Real) technology. AmbiSort
solutions integrate effortlessly into existing operations and
operate on day one, creating flexible systems that can scale with
demand.
As parcel volume exceeds 131 billion annual parcels globally with
more than 37% year-over-year growth in the US alone, as revealed in
the latest Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, logistics and global
delivery organizations continue to seek automated solutions that can
quickly scale to meet their unique needs.
Previously, each package handler was tasked to pick, pack, and place
items via a manual vertical putwall. With AmbiSort, Pitney Bowes
robot operators work alongside 3-4 automated horizontal putwalls
with the same amount of mailsacks. This increases each associate's
productivity and output by up to 4 times manual processes with
greater sack density to the last mile.
“Every
decision we make at Ambi Robotics centers around the value we bring
to our customers and how to uplift their employees,'' said Jim
Liefer, CEO of Ambi Robotics. “Our partnership with Pitney Bowes is
symbiotic – the company courageously embraces innovation and
technology. There is a reason Pitney Bowes is a 100-year strong
company.”
“At the heart of Ambi Robotics’ culture of creativity and
client-centricity is a core set of values that we share – we look
forward to continued collaboration and innovation through our
partnership,” said Zegras.
Improvements to AmbiSort since the initial Pitney Bowes deployment
include all-new robotic hardware components and advanced AI software
that increases throughput per square foot. Additional outbound
placement locations increase sorting capacity, and the system’s
horizontal putwall increases sack density to the last-mile. A new
handoff region between the highly-dexterous piece-picking robot cell
and the gantry system allows the robot to singulate and grasp a
parcel while simultaneously placing another parcel in the
appropriate last-mile mail-sack.
Pitney Bowes and Ambi Robotics started a $23 million deployment
expansion of AmbiSort systems in Pitney Bowes ecommerce hubs across
the US. The AI-powered robotics will help Pitney Bowes speed parcel
sortation to last-mile delivery providers, while improving
productivity, accuracy and worker safety as the company’s shipping
and ecommerce businesses surpass 50% of total revenue. Pitney Bowes
will make the investment in Robot as a Service (RaaS) fees over the
next four years.