Robots are helping to ease ecommerce distribution

Machine learning is enabling a new era of warehouse automation, as operators test artificial-intelligence-powered robots to help speed e-commerce orders. An article posted earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Pro section examines how logistics providers and retailers are deploying robotics to limit the number of steps their warehouse workers take and to execute more nuanced tasks long thought to be possible only by human hands. Most warehouses still rely on human labor. But with the need to fill accelerating online orders, operators are looking for new, more efficient ways to manage distribution. Enter robotics: ROBO Global, a research and investment advisor, estimates that annual spending for warehouse and logistics automation, now at $46 billion, could surpass $75 billion by 2022.