#69: Collaborative robots in the warehouse (Mike Johnson, Pres/COO/Founder and Al Dekin, SVP/Founder at Locus Robotics)

Locus Robotics is globally leading provider of collaborative mobile robots and warehouse automation solutions. The founders were early adopters of robotics technology to improve warehouse productivity. We have two of those founders on today's episode of the BVL.digital Podcast: Mike Johnson, President, COO, Co-Founder and Al Dekin, Co-Founder and SVP of Locus Robotics. The US-based company has very ambitious plans for the European market. Together with our host Boris Felgendreher Mike and Al discuss the following topics: - How the founders were first inspired by early generation Kiva robots in 2008 - The early days and successes at Quiet Logistics, the tech-enabled 3PL Mike and Al founded - How Mike and Al experienced Amazon's acquisition of Kiva Systems and the consequences for their business - How the removal of Kiva from the market created the momentum for launching Locus Robotics - The evolution of collaborative robots over time - How e-commerce has evolved and created new challenges and pressures for fulfillment operations - State-of-the-art collaborative robots in 2021 - What's the special sauce, the core differentiator of Locus Robotics - The value of the data being generated in the warehouse and how it can be leveraged - The importance of robot-human interaction: How the warehouse associates interact with the collaborative robots - Integrating multiple systems inside the warehouse - Plans for the expansion into Europe - The war for talent heating up - The future outlook on collaborative robots and on Locus Robotics - and more For more information about Locus Robotics: https://locusrobotics.com/ For more information about BVL.digital: https://bvl-digital.de/ For more information about BVL: https://www.bvl.de/