Indispensable Robots in warehouses

The days of warehouses bustling with workers to pick boxes and fill orders could soon be a thing of the past if robotic automation continues to gain momentum. Robots are already rapidly delivering efficiencies as organizations across North America reinvigorate their logistics facilities with fast-moving machines. And in Canada, between 1.5 million and 7.5 million jobs could be at risk of automation in the next 10 to 15 years, according to a report just released by the University of Toronto’s school of public policy and governance. Technology provides … better jobs,” says Simon Drexler, director of industrial robotics for Kitchener, Ont.-based Clearpath Robotics Inc., whose industrial subsidiary Otto Motors designs and manufactures self-driving vehicles for warehouse, manufacturing and industrial environments across North America, and beyond. “If you were an accountant when computers came out you would probably be terrified that you would lose your job, but what a computer allowed accountants to do was become data analysts. ” In a report, British market research firm Technavio estimates the market for logistics robots will reach $2.15-billion (U.S.) by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of about 32 per cent over that period. The PwC leadership survey indicates that 94 per cent of CEOs whose organizations had incorporated robotics into their operations found they helped boost productivity, while 64 per cent are counting on robots to help them innovate and increase revenue per employee. Clearpath Robotics has been a clear beneficiary of that. The company, founded in 2009 by four University of Waterloo engineers, earned a place on Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 50 ranking, posting three-year revenue growth of 662 per cent.