In a remarkable milestone highlighting its rapid growth and rising dominance in warehouse robotics, Locus Robotics has announced surpassing 3 billion total order picks across its global deployments of autonomous mobile robots.

The Wilmington, Massachusetts company achieved this 3 billion pick benchmark just 33 weeks after recording its 2 billionth pick - a blistering pace that took nearly seven years to reach its first billion picks. According to Locus, the 3 billionth item picked was a Carhartt T-shirt at the apparel company's warehouse in Hanson, Kentucky.

"Surpassing 3 billion picks reflects the trust our customers have placed in our innovative robotics solutions," stated Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. "We remain focused on revolutionizing the supply chain industry and empowering our customers with operational efficiencies to thrive in an increasingly complex fulfillment landscape."

A Leader in Warehouse Automation 

Founded in 2014, Locus has staked a claim as an industry pioneer with its robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model that deploys autonomous mobile robots to collaborate with human workers. The robots help boost productivity and efficiency by handling mundane travel and delivery tasks, allowing people to focus on picking, packing, and other more specialized roles.

The rapid acceleration of Locus' pick rate serves as a powerful barometer of its solutions' rapidly growing adoption. During last year's peak holiday season, the company's LocusBots picked over 331 million units - a 66% spike over the previous year's peak. Across all of 2023, Locus recorded 1.2 billion total picks, an 82% year-over-year increase.

"Their impressive growth trajectory is a clear indication of the value their proven solutions bring to customers," said Steve Banker, VP at advisory firm ARC Advisory Group. "Enabling them to improve productivity, lower costs, and stay ahead of the competition."

Locus' momentum shows no signs of slowing, even as the company undertakes measures like last January's "small, targeted" layoffs to re-align after over-hiring during the post-COVID peak. With an intense R&D focus, the company aims to press its technological lead in an increasingly competitive warehouse automation space.

The Humans and Robots Working Side-by-Side 

At the heart of Locus' robotics platform is the idea of humans and robots collaborating in synergistic roles best-suited to their respective strengths. Rather than fully replacing human workers, LocusBots take over time-consuming transit tasks like ferrying picked items across vast warehouse floors.

This human-robot teamwork multiplies the effective workforce without the complications of managing a larger human workforce. Locus robots are designed to seamlessly integrate into existing warehouse operations alongside human associates.

As Sean Pineau, Locus' Head of 3PL Segments, will discuss at the upcoming Robotics Summit & Expo, the real opportunity lies in how AI-enabled robotics can enhance and extend human capabilities within warehouses and supply chains.

"I'll be discussing the considerations, potential benefits, and impacts of implementing AI in the warehouse setting," said Pineau, who is speaking on "AI in the Warehouse: What You Really Need to Know" on May 1. "There's a lot of hype around AI, but also some legitimate transformative use cases that retail, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics companies need to understand."

An Accelerating Robotics Revolution
As an RBR50 award winner, Locus will showcase its robotics innovations at the event's RBR50 Showcase. The rapid progress marked by its 3 billion pick achievement points towards an accelerating robotics revolution reshaping industries like warehouse automation and logistics.

"We are well-positioned to continue growing rapidly with our cutting-edge robotics systems that enable customers to scale," Faulk stated. In a world of intensifying e-commerce demand and supply chain complexity, that scalable robotics-driven efficiency could prove an indispensable competitive advantage.

Across logistics facilities and factory floors, robots like Locus' are increasingly sharing workspaces with humans in a new age of collaborative robotics and automation. The 3 billion pick milestone signals that robotic coworkers have firmly arrived to drive the future of work.