JLS Automation celebrates 65th Anniversary
Company’s history shows a culture of innovation and commitment to quality This year marks a major milestone for JLS Automation. The company is celebrating its 65th anniversary and its long-standing commitment to revolutionizing industrial automation with its robotic packaging systems. JLS Automation started as JL Souser & Associates, a manufacturers’ representative firm that sold power transmission equipment in 1955. Since taking over the company, current president and CEO Craig Souser has transformed the company into what it is today—a best-in-class, trusted supplier of hygienic robotic packaging solutions for food handling. “Throughout our 65-year history, JLS has evolved to meet the needs of our customers every step of the way. We have grown with the food packaging industry, and will continue to innovate as the market demands new standards in quality, sanitation, and technical expertise,” said Souser. When he first took the lead of JLS, Souser expanded the product range to include variable frequency drives and started providing application engineering assistance. In 1991, JLS provided systems engineering and shortly after introduced a field service offering to support its engineered systems. In 1993, the company entered the packaging automation segment. Since it’s custom vision-guided primary and secondary robotic packaging systems, high-speed leak detection systems and end-of-arm tooling have been awarded several patents. Just this year, JLS launched its patent-pending Peregrine™, a vision-guided robotic cartoning system that uses a proprietary positive carton transport (PCT) system and game-changing TRAK technology. Also this year, the company developed a high-payload bulk product handling solution for transporting large cuts of protein. Both solutions were the result of customer demand and JLS’s commitment to innovative solutions for hygienic packaging applications. “We are honored that our customers have relied on our commitment to quality equipment and dedication to providing exceptional solutions and service for 65 years,” said Souser. “We take pride in providing leading-edge robotic solutions that in turn help them to work more safely, efficiently and hygienically. JLS is what it is today because of the continued support of our customers along with our innovative culture and talented employees.”
DHL Supply Chain and Locus Robotics expand partnership, launching 10 new U.S. Deployments in 2020
1,000 LocusBots to support 12 DHL sites in North America this year DHL advances the nationwide deployment of Locus’s Industry-Leading AMR Solution to drive fulfillment productivity and efficiency DHL Supply Chain, a provider in contract logistics and part of Deutsche Post DHL Group, and Locus Robotics, the market leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses, announced an expanded partnership that includes 10 new, nationwide deployments of the Locus AMR solution in 2020. The companies have signed an Expanded Multi-Site Services Agreement outlining these terms. “The agreement with Locus Robotics further enables us to bring productivity-enhancing technology to our customers quickly, so they are well-positioned to capitalize on new and emerging opportunities,” said Jim Gehr, President, Retail at DHL Supply Chain North America. “DHL Supply Chain’s initial implementation of the Locus solution within the life sciences and retail sectors was a tremendous success; we saw increases in fulfillment productivity of up to 80% in selected customer operations. We now see an opportunity to extend the benefits of utilizing their highly flexible AMR solution at scale for customers across multiple sectors. We look forward to continuing to work with Locus to drive productivity, support capacity growth and deliver continuous improvement within our customers’ supply chains nationwide.” “We are very excited to be growing our partnership with DHL Supply Chain,” said Rick Faulk, CEO, Locus Robotics. “We’ve already identified the sites in question and expect deployment in 2020 to support volume for peak season. What is particularly gratifying about this expansion is that the DHL decision was based on observed successes in their early facilities. We continue to see customers expanding their relationships as they prove our solution.” DHL Supply Chain North America and Locus Robotics partnered in 2017 to pilot a collaborative, autonomous robotics solution – LocusBots – to support associates in piece picking order fulfillment in warehouses. The LocusBots navigate autonomously within warehouses to quickly locate and transport pick items to associates. They can be flexibly deployed to support a diverse range of picking strategies, significantly reducing time spent on routine or physically demanding tasks, reducing manual errors and increasing productivity. In 2018, DHL Supply Chain announced a multi-year plan to invest USD 300 million in emerging technologies in its North American operations. The company has rolled out an accelerated digitalization program that has identified 14 target technologies – seven of which involve collaborative robotics – that can be fast-tracked into customers’ operations. Partnerships with emerging technology providers such as Locus Robotics allows DHL to quickly bring proven, productivity-enhancing technology and data-driven insights to customers’ supply chains.
Get your Robot Driver’s License at ISC West
Ever wonder what it’s like to drive a security robot? Cobalt Robotics, a manufacturer of intelligent security robots that autonomously patrol indoor facilities, invites ISC West, 2020 attendees, to Booth 34051, in the Drones and Robotics exhibit, to drive a Cobalt robot and experience how they combine the flexibility of humans with the reliability of a machine, providing high-level human intelligence, rapid situational awareness, real-time responsiveness, and perfect accountability. “We want to show ISC West attendees how easy security robots are to use, the different applications where they can be a force multiplier, and why security executives should consider implementing them as a part of their security operations,” said Dr. Travis Deyle, CEO and co-Founder of Cobalt Robotics. “We encourage everyone to visit our booth, put on a driver’s cap, and earn their Cobalt Robot Driver’s License.” Cobalt Robotics’ autonomous indoor security robots are equipped with powerful sensors, including day-night cameras, thermal sensors, motion sensors, and badge readers, which help them to detect anomalies and other risks that might not be detected by the human eye. The robots work alongside human guards and provide a safer environment in places such as offices and warehouses. The Cobalt robot uses machine learning to patrol buildings autonomously and flag anomalies such as unknown people, open doors, suspicious items, or unusual sounds. When anomalies are detected, the robot can either respond autonomously or video-call highly trained Cobalt Specialists to help resolve the situation remotely. Cobalt security robots now feature new leak and spill detection sensing technology, so they can be programmed to detect a leak or spill within a predefined area. Once detected, the security robot can then send the appropriate notification to a robot Specialist. At ISC West (Booth #34051), show attendees can sit with a Cobalt Specialist and operate the robot themselves, with guidance, for a designated time period. Attendees can book their driving experience in advance, or directly at the Cobalt Booth throughout the show. On-site appointments will be scheduled depending on robot and Cobalt staff availability. Cobalt Robotics was founded in 2016. Since then, robots designed and developed by the technology start-up have been deployed by several well-known companies, including Yelp, Briggs and Stratton, and Slack.