Cargo Cove selects inVia Robotics’ WES to optimize warehouse picking

Robotics company inVia Robotics today announced that Cargo Cove has chosen inVia’s AI-driven optimization software to accelerate digital transformation in its Jacksonville, Florida facility.

Cargo Cove will take advantage of inVia’s phased approach to automation and first deploy inVia’s PickMate application to direct workers along the most efficient route through the warehouse to take products from inventory to pack out. Later this year, they will add inVia Picker autonomous mobile robots, which will augment existing labor and further increase productivity and accuracy rates.

Cargo Cove is a full-service logistics company, providing everything from same-day fulfillment to reverse logistics. The rapid rise in e-commerce, which was growing 12% a year before COVID and is now forecast to add nearly $100 billion more than previous estimates every year through 2023, has created unprecedented demand for third-party logistics. It has accelerated Cargo Cove’s initiative to bring advanced technology like inVia into its operation, providing comprehensive analytics and maximized efficiency to its e-commerce customers.

With the initial deployment of inVia Logic, Cargo Cove will immediately benefit from algorithms that determine optimal placement of inventory and dynamic labor assignments, according to the announcement. AI is used to map a customer’s warehouse and calculate the most efficient paths for moving goods through the fulfillment process, as well as the ideal worker to perform each task. Workers will use inVia PickMate’s interface on existing handhelds to be directed step-by-step on these paths to pick accurate products to order bins. This ensures full resource utilization and is expected to double productivity over manual processes.

“inVia’s system will double Cargo Cove’s warehouse workers’ productivity with the introduction of inVia PickMate and then quadruple productivity with the addition of inVia Picker robots,” said Lior Elazary, chief executive officer and co-founder of inVia Robotics. “Our phased approach is ideal for 3PLs, letting them adopt new technology at their own pace across their brands and incrementally increase efficiencies over time.”

inVia’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model will allow Cargo Cove to pay only for the services they’re using in each phase, keeping investment targeted and delivering faster ROI. Adding additional modules, like inVia Picker robot automation, will bypass any need for additional integration with their warehouse management system.

“It’s critical that we continually incorporate the latest warehouse innovation into our operation. It gives us a competitive edge because it gives our customers one,” said Robert McFaul, CEO of Cargo Cove. “We wanted smart technology that could optimize our buildings and our people so we can keep our pledge to simplify and automate for our customers. inVia was an easy choice. They simplify and automate for us.”