GXO Logistics picks Locus as primary mobile robot vendor

GXO Logistics is deploying 65 of Locus Robotics’ AMRs in its customer warehouses. | Source: Locus Robotics

Editor’s Note: Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics, is keynoting our Robotics Summit & Expo, which takes place May 10-11 in Boston. His talk, called “Robotics Automation in the Warehouse: Optimizing Productivity with Business Intelligence,” will discuss how business intelligence is transforming all sectors of the economy, including the fulfillment warehouse. Attendees will learn how automation solutions can provide companies with various types of key business information, a valuable and actionable resource for business planning, operations optimization, labor management and more.

GXO Logistics, a pure-play contract logistics provider, has chosen Locus Robotics as its primary autonomous mobile robot (AMR) provider for a sports-fashion retail company in the UK and Netherlands. GXO has deployed 65 Locus AMRs at its order fulfillment centers.

“This partnership reflects our ongoing commitment to deploy innovative logistics solutions that use advanced technology to address increasingly complex fulfillment challenges,” Gavin Williams, managing director of GXO, UK and Ireland, said. “Customization, flexibility and scalability are the hallmarks of our solutions, and the Locus AMRs support our ability to make warehouse space even more efficient for our customers.”

The Locus Origin AMRs locate and pick items alongside employees in warehouses, allowing workers to spend less time walking across warehouses for items. The solution is easily scalable and flexible.

In 2021, Locus picked 120 million units globally on behalf of its retail and third-party logistics partners. On average, the robots picked 2.1 million units daily. In total, the company picked 71% more units in 2021 than in 2020.

“Locus’s innovative multi-bot approach, flexibility, scalability, and fast ROI is helping GXO to consistently exceed their global customers’ expectations,” Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus, said. “This deployment allows GXO to further scale its operations for the customer as they expand into new markets and reach more consumers.”

Earlier this week, Locu officially expanded its product line with a rebrand of Waypoint Robotics’ AMRs. Locus acquired Waypoint in September 2021 to add heavy-payload AMRs to its lineup.

At the time, the two companies maintained Waypoint’s branding, but now Waypoint’s Vector and MAV3K robots are being rebranded as the Locus Vector and Max. The two robots, along with the previously released Locus Origin, make up the company’s new line.