Schneider seizes the opportunity of e-commerce

Beijing, China, 24 August 2021 – Looking at the history of the logistics industry, the changes brought about by the development of e-commerce in recent years are rare. Digital Commerce 360 estimates that in 2020, United States customers spent $861.12 billion online, up 44.0% year-over-year. This is the highest annual increase in e-commerce in United States in at least 20 years, almost three times the 15.1% increase in 2019. According to the data of the State Post Bureau, from January to July, the total volume of express delivery service enterprises nationwide was 58.33 billion, an increase of 42.9% year-on-year; The cumulative revenue of affairs reached 566.94 billion yuan, an increase of 24.7% year-on-year. The growth rate was higher than that of the same period in 2019, and a new format and new kinetic energy shopping mall were being carried out well. Schneider Electric believes that at present, the development of e-commerce, motion control and robotics skills, as well as digital transformation and other trends around the world are accelerating the delivery of goods at an unprecedented speed, which requires the automation level of logistics enterprises to complete a breakthrough improvement in intelligence, reliability and green.

Schneider seizes the opportunity of e-commerce

Schneider seizes the opportunity of e-commerce

Together, driven by e-commerce, warehousing and distribution transactions have also increased. Amazon and other domestic and foreign e-commerce giants are trying to improve the speed of delivery of goods, and better meet their expectations without adding the cost of a single order to customers. However, with the continuous expansion of distribution coverage, customers' expectations for the speed of logistics delivery remain unchanged or even increase, which is more and more demanding for the logistics ability of related enterprises.

In addition to the need for fast turnover, a shortage of manpower is also a problem faced by logistics companies, which can no longer be solved by hiring more workers alone. Qualified employees in the logistics industry are in high demand, and their employment costs and related performance expectations are also increasing. In addition, the pace of training of the new generation of workers lags far behind the retirement rate of the older generation of workers.

How can logistics companies stay competitive?

How can we overcome these growing challenges? Many logistics companies are exploring a new way out, that is, to increase investment in automation, so as to improve labor efficiency. More precisely, investment in skills in this area is now mainly focused on motion control and robotic systems used in transportation.

Statista, the world's authoritative organization, stated that the global robot mall is expected to continue to increase at a compound annual growth rate of about 26%, and the scale of the mall will be close to 210 billion US dollars by 2025. For the logistics industry, this means that more robots will be deployed in the transportation, sorting, separation and sensing systems and supporting equipment.

The integration of motion manipulation and robotics skills should be gradual

The spread of advanced motion control and robotics skills will not happen overnight, and the ability of logistics companies to absorb investment in automation and generate a surplus will depend on a variety of factors, including the size of the enterprise, its strength and the type of automation required. In the process of automation, most logistics companies are in different stages of development. Logistics companies can first introduce robotic motion control and sorting systems in order to achieve immediate automation benefits, and then complete a gradual relocation to more chaotic automation processes based on vested gains. When put in place, next-generation automation skills can not only optimize operational efficiency and meet the time and resource requirements of industry trends, but also free skilled workers from repetitive tasks to focus on optimizing ramp-up strategies and developing innovative mall plans.

With the progress of productivity, quality, and agility, the advantages of motion control and robotics skills are becoming more and more obvious

The rapid iteration of logistics malls has also put forward higher requirements for related skill developers and machine builders. Customers in the logistics industry expect manufacturers to quickly deliver next-generation motion control and material handling solutions that optimize space usage, increase flexibility, productivity and safety, reduce labor inputs, and improve quality.

Equipment manufacturers and manufacturers such as Schneider Electric are working together to help logistics companies better respond to changing mall needs with breakthrough skills in robotics and motion control. Equipment manufacturers and end users are now able to accelerate their development and turnaround cycles in a cost-effective format.

Digitalizing operations doesn't require equipment manufacturers to be industry pioneers. For many machine builders, the convergence of information and operational skills (OT) and the introduction of open architectures have reduced project risk and shortened set-up time. Schneider Electric, for example, has selected a rapid engineering approach to upgrade more than 200 in-house manufacturing, distribution centers, and warehouse sites, developing an intelligent delivery system across intralogistics operations.

With the introduction of open, scalable/modular skills in internal operational processes, Schneider Electric's role in logistics has changed from being a supplier to equipment manufacturers and an end user to large machinery manufacturers. Digital machine and automation solutions help OEMs streamline their approach to information, documentation, and product interfaces, helping them better meet the expectations of their end users. Thanks to these solutions, the time from prototype concept to commissioning has been reduced from months to weeks, and refactoring and commissioning has been reduced from weeks to days.

Solutions such as PacDrive 3 combine programmable logic, motion, and robotic control functions in a single hardware platform, a fully integrated architecture that helps simplify warehouse preparation and pallet loading.

In environments that require high-speed motion control and accurate positioning, such as single-axis to high-performance multi-axis machines, Schneider Electric's servo drive series supports motors, drives, and robotics. In this way, the problem of fast parcel conveyance and high-speed separation (parcel sorting and separation) can be solved, and the operational requirements of parcel distribution can be satisfied.

In the field of e-commerce, companies must first grasp current trends and introduce innovative results in motion control and robotics solutions in order to gain a competitive advantage and increase their business. With products including robots, integrated drives, servo drives and motors, motion controllers and other products, as well as many practices and skills in the digital transformation of automation, Schneider Electric will help logistics enterprises seize the opportunities of e-commerce development and take the lead with reliable and high quality.

Schneider seizes the opportunity of e-commerce

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