6 River Systems (6RS) has unveiled “major enhancements” to its “wall-to-wall” fulfillment solution, including upgrades to Chuck, its collaborative mobile robot

6 River Systems (6RS), part of global commerce platform Shopify, has unveiled what it describes as “major enhancements” to its “wall-to-wall” fulfillment solution, including upgrades to its collaborative mobile robot, Chuck.

6RS says it provides warehouse operators the opportunity to “transform the entire fulfillment workflow from putaway, to picking, sorting and packing”.

Improvements to the solution’s order allocation algorithm and optimizations to batch, zone and other picking methodologies continue to reduce associate walking in the warehouse, says the company.

With new modular and larger multi-level workspaces, Chuck is the most flexible collaborative mobile robot in the industry.

Glen Sutton, SVP Americas, Ingram Micro commerce and lifecycle services, says: Operational efficiency is critical to providing an accurate and fast delivery experience, and the demand for this continues to grow. Our solution from 6 River Systems enables us to increase our throughput and get more orders out the door and into customers’ hands.

We are excited about their commitment to continually improving and developing their product, Sutton says.

6RS Vice President of Marketing Fergal Glynn said in an interview that these enhancements have been a long time coming.

When asked what the biggest benefits of these enhancements to Chuck are for 6RS customers, Glynn explained that one of the biggest benefits of these enhancements is the ergonomic design.

Gillan Hawkes, 6RS’ VP of product, says: Our solution transforms fulfillment operations. Chuck replaces cumbersome and dangerous manual carts, eliminates long walks to receive and deliver work and improves associates’ jobs. In turn, this helps companies recruit and retain the best workers.

Unlike traditional automation systems, ours continuously improves through over-the-air software updates and new functionality, helping our existing customers realize year-over-year productivity increases of 10 per cent or greater, Hawkes said.