1/12/2024 0 Comments Walmart online grocery![]() AnyLogic was also selected because the Alphabot® system would require extensive control algorithms. AnyLogic also offered unparallel ease of deployment, so that multiple Walmart engineers could run the material handling design model, without the need to install additional software or purchase developer’s licenses. MOSIMTEC’s and AnyLogic’s abilities to dynamically build facility layouts from data inputs, without accessing the development environment for each layout change, would help cut model development time significantly and enable faster evaluation of multiple Alphabot® configurations. To model Alphabot®’s behavior and operations in a computer simulated environment, with real world complexity and variability, MOSIMTEC chose AnyLogic material handling simulation software for the project. That requirement is especially important to meet the high uptime requirements of online grocery fulfillment.” – John Lert, the Founder of Alert Innovation, about the micro-fulfillment technology his team has brought to market with 31 issued or pending patents. And finally, unlike other technologies with lifts and conveyors, the bots are the only moving parts if one stops, customers continue to be served. “Alphabot® is the first and only technology designed from the ground up to meet the daunting challenge of putting automation inside a grocery store - low cost, order completion in single-digit minutes, extreme space and throughout efficiency, and the ability to operate in multiple-temperature storage zones (ambient, chill, and frozen). Material handling simulation would not only help understand the true cost of rolling out the system in the real world, but also identify store-specific requirements for potential deployment of Alphabot® across Walmart’s other stores in the future. Use model throughput and turn-around-time results to compare the proposed performance of Alert Innovation’s Alphabot® with other industry leading Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) and Goods-to-Person (GTP) technologies.Compare the capital expenditure requirements predicted by the model vs.Identify the best configuration of the racking structure, automated bots, and each-picking workstations required for a variety of store profiles.Understand any potential performance weaknesses of the Alphabot® system with realistic demand data and variability.Understand the throughput and turnaround time capabilities of the Alphabot® system during peak customer demand periods and assess service levels.The goal of this initial modeling assessment was to: Before making a financial commitment and deploying the system in a Walmart store, it was decided to task MOSIMTEC, a simulation consulting firm, with designing a material handling simulation model for an independent technology feasibility assessment. ![]() Alert Innovation had already made some static spreadsheet calculations for the project, however, both Alert Innovation and Walmart agreed that the spreadsheets could not be relied upon due to system complexity and variability in demand and execution. The retailer wanted to evaluate the feasibility of the Alphabot® concept, and its suitability for Walmart, prior to making a financial commitment towards product development. Alert Innovation presented Alphabot® as a technology that would make the in-store fulfillment of online orders faster and more efficient. Alphabot robots, or “bots”, are self-driving vehicles that can gather items in ambient, chilled, and frozen temperature zones in a high-density storage system and bring them to associates that pick individual items to build a customer’s order. They wanted to evaluate Alert Innovation’s Goods-to-Person (GTP) concept, Alphabot®, that could automate online grocery at the store level by using autonomous mobile robots capable of operating in all three dimensions within a multilevel storage structure. ![]() ![]() Walmart, the world’s largest retailer by revenue, was looking for an automation technology that would help complete orders faster and at a lower cost in the company’s fast-growing online grocery business. ![]()
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