Californian companies InVia Robotics and Rufus Labs are working together to increase intelligence and productivity in warehouses through their subscription offerings.

InVia provides warehouse automation technology for ecommerce. Rufus Labs makes intelligent wearable warehouse technology and workforce analytics software.

The collaboration is directly aimed at addressing warehouse labour shortages that the industry faces, allowing warehouse employees to work more efficiently and supercharging workforce productivity.

The combination of these two technologies can ensure a continuous flow of orders through the warehouse that increases picking rates with existing labour. InVia Picker robots autonomously retrieve ordered items and bring them to a stationary picker. That worker is directed by InVia PickMate software running on Rufus’ android wearables and tablets to scan the items, place them in an order bin and then scan the bin.

This cycle repeats and is continuously improved with intelligence from InVia Logic and Rufus Labs WorkHero software to create a more efficient movement of goods and people throughout the warehouse to increase productivity.

As ecommerce demand grows, inVia and Rufus Labs aim to help warehouses accelerate digitisation without requiring large capital expenditure. The two companies offer an approach that includes software to optimise the relationship between inventory, people and robots in the warehouse, as well as autonomous mobile robots and wearable devices.

Both systems integrate with most warehouse management and enterprise resource planning systems. Additionally, the InVia Connect translation tool is built into InVia’s AI software and seamlessly matches data fields across systems, simplifying a costly and complicated systems integration process that traditionally took months to complete.

InVia’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model allows users to pay only for the services they use, keeping investment targeted and delivering faster RoI. The system includes AI-driven software and picker robots. The system optimises inventory placement, directs people or robots on the most efficient paths, and orchestrates workflows to reduce idle time.

“InVia Logic alone doubles worker’s productivity and paves the way to later quadruple productivity once inVia Picker robots are deployed,” said Lior Elazary, chief executive officer of InVia Robotics. “With the added efficiencies introduced with Rufus Labs’ wearable technology, we expect productivity to reach new highs in our shared customers’ facilities.”

Rufus Labs’ WorkHero is a complete productivity-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that includes workforce analytics software and rugged wearable technology. Wearable computers and barcode scanners offer real-time scanning metrics, scan and non-scan labour task management, and workforce data to improve warehouse operations.

The wearable barcode scanner is modular, allowing warehouse workers to choose their ergonomic preference by sliding the scanning module into a ring, glove or palm scanner attachment. Additionally, the Rufus Radd Tab Android tablet provides operators in material handling vehicles or warehouse carts with hands-free access to supply chain applications they need to complete tasks faster and more accurately.

“Optimising humans and robots in the warehouse is key to future sustainability, increased productivity, and ensuring a safe environment for workers,” said Gabe Grifoni, chief executive officer of Rufus Labs. “Rufus WorkHero already cuts pick time in half and provides added safety features to pickers. Our partnership with InVia will continue to improve throughput for our mutual customers, and allow for future innovations between humans and machines.”

With the first joint deployment of InVia and Rufus technology, Cargo Cove 3PL should see immediate benefit across warehouse configuration optimisation, worker productivity and visibility analytics. Cargo Cove expects to double productivity as a result of the joint integration. With options to scale and add services as needed through the subscription model, 3PLs can benefit from the consistent ability to automate in line with business growth.

InVia Robotics is a southern California robotics company founded in 2015. Rufus Labs was founded in 2013 and is based in Los Angeles.