In the three years after the onset of the pandemic, employees flocked to warehouses all over the country, attracted by significant pay increases. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the domestic warehouse workforce grew from 1.2 million in May 2020 to 1.91 million three years later. Soon after, employment growth slowed. (Peak warehouse employment occurred in June 2022 with 1.96 million workers.)

These numbers are for all warehouse work. Zeroing in on order fulfillment is trickier. It’s a harder job, filled with demanding, strenuous work; lots of walking; and long hours. In 2021, the state of California even enacted regulations that expanded protections for warehouse workers while aiming to make the job safer and more desirable.

In a traditional manual warehouse, order picking is an undesirable job that involves physically locating and collecting the products or items that have been ordered by customers from the warehouse shelves. Find, pick, pack, repeat -- all day long.

Mobile order fulfillment robots enable these pickers to work more efficiently while lowering the burnout rate for employees and making the job a more pleasant experience. Empowering workers with automated warehouse solutions allows them to effectively handle an ever-increasing flow of e-commerce orders. After integration with a suite of Goods-to-Person robot solutions, automation becomes a competitive advantage for companies while also serving as a worker recruitment tool.

Shelf-to-Person solutions augment warehouse workforce

Shelf-to-Person mobile robot systems, where mobile picking robots automatically transport full shelves of products to a picking station for order fulfillment, are the most scalable and mobile Goods-to-Person

Geekplus Shelf-to-Person robots transport goods to PopPick picking stations.

solution on the market because they require no fixed infrastructure. These solutions enable 3PLs and retailers to make workers happy while optimizing fulfillment and saving money as they deal with the onslaught of customer fulfillment demands brought on by the unceasing growth of e-commerce sales.

Customers combine Geekplus Shelf-to-Person robots with the PopPick picking station, where robot arms present goods to the operator to optimize picking and improve order throughput. The modular solution scales up with customers as they grow; 3PLs and retailers can simply add more shelves, robots and picking stations during times of peak activity.

Warehouse safety is a crucial concern in the development of any mobile order fulfilment robot and should be one of the key factors considered when implementing warehouse automation. Geekplus working stations are outfitted with enhanced equipment, gates and fences to ensure the safety of warehouse employees.

The best part may be that Geekplus mobile order fulfillment robots are designed to be intuitive and easy to use. Employees can start working with the robots effectively after just a short training period. Also, the software that runs the solution is picture-based so employees can work in their native languages. ShopLC has around 13 languages spoken at its Austin warehouse, and the graphical interface means new employees can be trained on the system in minutes, no matter the language.

In this challenging business environment, finding and retaining workers is crucial. Geekplus mobile order fulfillment robots grow with your business while making employees happier and saving you money. We have the largest portfolio of mobile robot solutions in the industry providing customers with flexibility, scalability and reliability no matter the order fulfillment task. Learn more about our Shelf-to-Person, Tote-to-Person and Pallet-to-Person solutions.