Machinic life: A glimpse into the future

The Museum of the Future, an initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will officially open in 2018. But earlier this month, it was introduced to the public by way of an exhibition at the World Government Summit in Dubai. The museum will be “an incubator for ideas, a driver for innovation, and a destination for inventors and entrepreneurs from around the world,” said Sheikh Mohammed.

The theme of the exhibition was Machinic Life, showing the integration of life into machine and machine into human life. Among the innovative displays is a pill that acts like a biomechanical stomach, and warehouse logistics where machines practically do most of the work.

Eat-It-All

We can’t eat everything that we want, but a revolutionary micro pill could change that. Called the Eat-It-All, the pill works like a bio-mechanical stomach which sorts out the good from the bad. We can eat all we want, and the pill, which expands in the stomach for two weeks, will extract only what the body needs and will reject the rest. As long as the pill is active, it will protect the body from poisoned water, bad food, or even an excess of food like ice cream, according to the innovator. In essence, the pill will keep the body healthy no matter what is consumed.

Increasing efficiency and precision, robots are indispensable to any industry. The CarryPick robot was designed specifically to enhance warehouse logistics. From Swisslog, this robot deserves a place in the Museum of the Future for enabling complex logistical chains that “no human being can understand” and is used where products are stacked and sorted accordingly to a logic known only to the algorithm.

The robot will bring the shelves to the warehouse staff based on a complex analysis of time, product, and destination. “There is literally no one in control,” say the exhibition organisers, “yet these ultracomplex systems enable ever larger economies of scale and ever more efficient operations.”  

One area in which this proved an inspired solution is in the implementation of return logistics.

In online retail, many products ordered by customers end up as returns back at the seller. It seems like a simple concept, but it has presented many challenges for rapidly developing businesses, buoyed by e-commerce success, where the focus has traditionally been largely in one direction. 

CarryPick storage system

Returns are a major financial issue, with a number of items unable to be sold again at the same profit margin after they have been returned. Even if returned items are in a sellable condition, the handling costs are doubled before any revenue is made. In addition to shipping charges, companies also need to pay internal personnel and intralogistics costs, which are often just as high. 

In the past, it was more common for e-commerce merchants to think of ways to make it difficult for customers to return purchases, however the industry has since realized that returns are an inherent part of online selling. “E-commerce doesn’t work without returns,” said Bernd Kratz, an e-commerce industry executive with many years of experience and co-founder of the Institute for Interactive Commerce. “Often it still takes several days for a returned item to be put back in storage for resale,” adds Bernd. “This is a very expensive time during which the returned item could well be on its way to the next customer.” 

It’s here that the CarryPick solution comes in. Swisslog’s strategy is to integrate returns processing right into the ongoing picking processes using partially and fully automated systems in order to accelerate returns movements. Adding the returned items into the flow of goods at this early stage, aided by the robot’s innate intelligence, means returned items are made available much more quickly for delivery to other customers.

“Our innovative technological approach allows picking and putaway of returns to take place at the same time,” said Frédéric Zielinski, General Manager of Swisslog Middle East LLC. 

Personnel costs are also reduced and storage density can be increased significantly as less space is needed in e-commerce distribution centers. Both CarryPick and the innovative AutoStore solution addresses the growing challenges faced by the e-commerce and multichannel sector: Depending on the product range and space situation, it is possible to create customized intralogistics processes using individual applications or a combination of technologies.

As such, today’s automated processes are undoubtedly a sign of the future ahead of us. “Machines have long-since been capable of delivering skills beyond our own physical capabilities,” said Mr Zielinski. “So too, we have developed computerization to push our intelligence forward. Today, we are not only bringing the two together, but allowing these systems to interact with the world around us to deliver a smart and fully integrated present that will undoubtedly enhance our future.”