Photos: Let robots sort out your online orders… with help from humans

Carrefour’s Micro Fulfillment Centre at Ibn Battuta Mall goes big on automation

Published: March 04, 2021 16:43 Manoj Nair, Business Editor, Devadasan K P, Picture Editor and Photos by Ahmed Ramzan

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First came the self-checkout counters. Now, the UAE’s retail sector is seeing robots work in sync with their human counterparts to sort through incoming orders and have them ready for delivery. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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So much change is happening in such a short timespan span as the retail industry keeps making more adjustments to COVID-19, contact-less shopping and payments. At the heart of this is the relentless push towards digital solutions… and AI. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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Yes, Carrefour is tapping Artificial Intelligence to power its new concept of ‘Micro Fulfilment Centre’, the first of which is located within its Ibn Battuta Mall location. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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So, how do the robots make their presence felt? Once an order streams in, the Centre utilizes AI to put the orders together from the storage area. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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Autonomous Mobile Robots come to the assistance of their human colleagues to pick up the items and – at the same time - ensure that stocks are kept at optimum levels. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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AI serves another purpose, in the form of an inventory placement machine that then allocates storage space for stock depending on demand for a particular product or category. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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All incoming orders are processed in a small matter of 5 minutes – and that helps cut down the average time between order placement and dispatch by half. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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This time gain translates into processing and sending out up to 200 orders every hour. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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The Centre will come to the help of online orders coming from communities in the immediate vicinity of the Ibn Battuta Mall. The automated storage facility also includes a chilled section, which is a first of its type. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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The hypermarket brand will operate a further two micro fulfillment centres. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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According to retail industry sources, investments in all manner of supporting technology will be the top priority this year. Retailers realise that a majority of new customers who bought online during 2020 are sticking around. They may have reduced the volume of online purchases, but they are not in the mood to go for a complete halt. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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As with everything related to consumers and their ways, going online and filling up the virtual cart is a habit. Once that’s done, the robots can do the rest in putting the order together. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

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Photos: Let robots sort out your online orders… with help from humans

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