Autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, can help warehouses in multiple ways, according to Dematic. As AMR fleets scale, they can enable warehouse operators to address labor shortages, layout constraints, and dynamic demand for order fulfillment with minimal infrastructure changes, it noted.
The Atlanta-based unit of KION Group said it has research and development engineers, manufacturing facilities, and service centers in more than 26 countries. The company added that its global network of about 10,000 employees has integrated and supported automation for many leading brands.
Kevin Heath, director of global robotics at Dematic, spoke with Automated Warehouse about the promise and actual usage of AMRs. He has worked at the company for 33 years and helped it grow worldwide.
Dematic takes a different AMR tack
How are mobile robots better than other warehouse systems?
Heath: Dematic and KION see AMRs as a tremendous growth opportunity compared with other technologies, such as conveyors, sorters, or ASRS [automated storage and retrieval systems]. The fixed-automation market is cooling to single-digit growth in the next couple of years.
Mobile automation could experience double-digit growth over the same timeframe. We’re transitioning our portfolio to leverage technology including AMRs. For KION, its STILL unit, Dematic, and mobile automation are all pieces of the puzzle.
Doesn’t Dematic integrate systems including ASRS? What do you produce yourselves?
Heath: We self-design and produce fork vehicles, and we purchase the base AMR hardware and fleet managers from multiple third parties. We white-label them and use our labor for installation, as well as our WES [warehouse execution system] and WCS [warehouse control system] software.
We approach the space differently than others, which are hiring OEMs directly. It’s a strategically different approach.
What sorts of AMRs does Dematic offer?
Heath: We offer subsystems such as simple transport of large pallets from Point A to Point B, or from the receiving dock to a reserve pallet rack system managed with fork trucks. We can also work with AGVs [automated guided vehicles] for putaway or picking.
Dematic also offers shelf-to-pick systems, Kiva-style, as well as pallet-to-picker and processes for non-sortables — large items. Our fourth AMR is a bin-to-pick system for that can reach double deep in high shelving, similar to ASRS, plus floor-level tote vehicles.
In certain regions, we also offer 2D and 3D sorting AMRs. There are some bespoke applications, and if they’re non-standard, we’ll work with other vendors.
Out of all those systems, which are the most popular?
Heath: As Interact Analysis has noted, our shelf-to-picker AMRs are popular, especially in Europe and Asia — mostly China. They’re less so in the U.S., which has larger and taller warehouses. Unless you’re an Amazon, many companies don’t have the resources to build around the robots.
In the Americas, our customers are focused more on bin-to-picker systems and taller robots. There has been a big push for ASRS and a lot of growth in pallet transportation.
You mentioned bespoke versus standardized offerings. What are some benefits of the latter?
Heath: Standardized offerings benefit both the customers and ourselves. We’re scrappier and can deploy things more quickly than our competitors — what used to take six months now takes two months, or from three months to three weeks. Our customers like Dematic’s faster ramp up.
Save the date for the 2026 Robotics SummitSensing and software shift for AMRs
Have there been recent improvements in sensing technologies around AMRs?
Heath: We are seeing some advancements, mostly for large-load vehicles. Today, QR codes are prevalent, but there are many niche players that offer more advanced sensing techniques. However, they’re more expensive.
We’re pushing into that space for vision-based rather than QR code-based navigation. We’ve been primarily focused on QR codes for very dense AMR tracking systems and high throughput.
How does shifting from QR codes or lidar affect AMR software and safety?
Heath: It definitely depends on the application. Vision helps marginally, and the challenge is cost. If you add more sensors and algorithms, you have to conduct a really thorough risk analysis by application. Environments and loads are hard to generalize.
For software, if we stick with QR codes for primary navigation, there’s not a ton of more advancement to be done. In fleet management, there could be more path optimization, relying on advanced AI to improve efficiency. That’s a last big nugget to tackle.
Traditionally, the WCS and WES layers handle all higher-level decision making. The fleet manager handles routing to make throughput as high as possible.
How closely is Dematic following developments in data analytics and artificial intelligence?
Heath: We have a complete department that’s AI-focused. It’s creating all sorts of advancements, mostly at the WCS and WES layers for the benefit of operations. They’re getting the right information at the right time for the right decisions.
We’re focused on “six pillars” of AI. One of my favorites is voice to AI agent, in which managers can ask about picks or errors over a certain time. Natural language interaction empowers operations teams to pull the right data to take action.
Related to AMRs, we saw more mobile manipulators at this year’s trade shows such as Manifest and ProMat. What do you think of them?
Heath: As a guiding principle, we believe that putting a robot arm on a mobile base is not yet the right approach based on today’s technology abilities for most of Dematic’s customers, which range from small companies with some experience in automation to the most advanced companies of the world.
While there is a lot of market interest and buzz, Dematic is not seriously talking with customers about this technology just yet.
The efficiency of bot to goods is quite low overall. Our customers are higher-throughput and can’t afford inefficiency.
We are seeing a really strong synergy between AMRs and robot arms, specifically for layer-picking robots. These are large pallet-sized AMRs at the front end of an ASRS fed by a stationary robot.
That’s a key piece of our robotics offerings for food and beverage, groceries, and consumer goods. They want to take the next step and use AMRs to then manage inventory. We’ve seen a bit of drone inventory in Europe, but it has been slower in the U.S.
Dematic builds partnerships, navigates global markets
What are some of Dematic’s partners?
Heath: Dematic represents both AutoStore and Quicktron bin-to-picker ASRS subsystems. We also have a relationship in Europe with Hai Robotics. For us, it’s important to have WCS; it’s less about the hardware, and at our core, we’re really a software company.
How do you evaluate potential partners?
Heath: There are so many considerations. Not a lot of companies offer partnerships similar to what KION and Dematic offer.
For example, with Hai, we looked at its raw capabilities. How quick did it develop and deploy its AMRs?
A lot of Chinese companies have deployed their first projects within six months and are usually of questionable quality. What processes are in place to get to their third deployments? Do they have good quality, can they manufacture fast enough to keep up with demand, and is their pricing competitive? It’s not an easy analysis.
We make our own tote-based shuttles, and every year, we revisit and look at all of these relationships.
What would you like to see improve, whether it’s in the industry or AMR technology?
Heath: Quality in general, getting from poor to good to great. Getting to good fast is super important, because we do our own self-deployed project documentation, training, and materials. We’re always looking for suppliers to get better at these.
More complicated than the AMRs themselves is the efficiency of fleets. For tote-based ASRS, companies are working to get hundreds of robots in confined spaces to run more efficiently.
SLAM [simultaneous localization and mapping] and vision-based navigation is an area that will continue to mature over the next two to three years. A lot of mom-and-pop shops will drop off, as the big four or five AMR companies in China push hard in the SLAM space.
How have U.S. tariffs affected the AMR space so far?
Heath: You have to consider the total cost of ownership, or TCO. Companies are passing the buck to customers. If any company is using a Chinese supplier and just passing on costs, that’s shortsighted.
We’re looking with our partners at manufacturing location options. We’ve found good success by standing up production locations, which is a consideration when looking at different vendors.
KION makes its own AGVs, shuttles, and ASRS, so we have the potential to onboard our own systems.
