Although Robots are still considered a futuristic concepts, evoking images of human shaped electronics that invariably try to take over the world at some point. However stepping away from the realm of sci-fi and back to reality robots are becoming more and more prevalent in industry.

Technology is advancing and the with the developments of autonomous cars, voice activated AI systems dotted around the home and in our electronic devices, these kinds of robots are becoming more and more talked about eagerly anticipated. This projects such as Amazon’s delivered by drone concepts gaining most of the spotlight, the use of the same technology that is already being used are often more overlooked.

The development into robotics are seen more frequently in the modern warehouse and have been used in automotive assembly for years. Robotics are used in order to perform tasks such as assembling pallet loads however there has been more developments to use the technology in the e-commerce sector for order fulfillment. Larger retailers are becoming significantly more focused on using robotics in order to carry out tasks such as order fulfillment which could be carried out much faster with the help of a robot.

It is thought that in the near future robotics will be a central factor for businesses in the retail sector who are wanting to be competitive in terms of cost-to-serve and speed of delivery. A great number of large online retail companies have set a target of 15 minutes between the order confirmation and the shipping of the item. This could only be reached through the use of robotics.

A report that has been published by Research and Markets has found that sales of robots to be used in warehousing and logistics operations have reached $1.9 billion in 2016. And with online purchasing accounting for 15.3% of all retail spending in February, the increased use of robotics to become more efficient is predicted.

However some believe that this could lead to the loss of manual jobs in the warehouse as tasks get taken over by robots. However some believe that robotics could be used in order to boost the productivity of the labour force and could be invaluable in busy periods such as Christmas.