Second Hands Project

Ideal place to start with robot collaboration.

EU robotics project gives maintenance workers a ‘second pair of hands’
By PAUL SAWERS@PSAWERS in Venturebeat

A five year European Union (EU) project to develop a collaborative humanoid that helps workers in industrial environments has come to an end, with the participants touting breakthroughs in “AI learning, natural language processing, and robotic manipulation.”

The SecondHands project, born from the EU’s €80 billion ($87 billion) Horizon 2020 research program, set out back in 2015 to develop what it called a “second pair of hands” for workers in factories, warehouses, and other industrial locations. The aim was to create a robotic assistant that is “proactive” in helping technicians lift or carry objects, acting as an apprentice-like helper that carries out the less skilled facets of a job. The project was developed under the auspices of a consortium of researchers and computer scientists from a number of organizations, including Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL); Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT); Sapienza, University of Rome; University College London (UCL); and Ocado Technology, the technology division of the U.K.’s online-only grocery giant Ocado.  ... " 

First Kroger - Ocado Fulfillment Center

Continued high tech improvements by Kroger.   Adds a number of jobs here.

Kroger breaking ground on $55M Butler County facility that will bring more than 400 jobs... 

Kroger and Ocado are set to break ground this morning in Butler County for the first-ever U.S. high-tech customer fulfillment center.

Kroger is investing $55 million to build the 335,000-square-foot facility at 6266 Hamilton Lebanon Road in Monroe, which will be the first of 20 in America.It’s expected to create more than 410 new jobs.MORE: Kroger’s robot-powered warehouse to create over 400 jobs in Monroe Kroger purchased the more than 98-acre property along Ohio 63 on March 20 for $3.1 million, according to Butler County Auditor’s Office records.The Ohio Tax Credit Authority voted last December to approve an 8-year, 1.362 percent tax credit for the project. .... " 

More in Forbes with video.

Google Deals with Retailer Carrefour to Sell Groceries Online

We worked with Carrefour in our innovation spaces and in France and China.  Looks like Home and Google Assistant will be utilized. Emphasis on fresh foods.  Competition seems to be driving this.  Amazon has just announced rollout of Echo in France.

Google Enters Deal With Carrefour to Sell Food Online in France  By Robert Williams in Bloomberg

Alphabet Inc.’s Google entered a deal with Carrefour SA to sell groceries online in France in what the retailer said was the first time fresh food will be marketed through the Internet giant’s platforms.

By early 2019, French shoppers will be able to buy Carrefour’s products through Google platforms including Home, Assistant and the Google shopping destination in France, the retailer said in a statement. Carrefour didn’t comment on the financial structure of the deal.

Competition in the French supermarket business has been heating up as grocers race to boost their digital offerings. Casino Guichard Perrachon SA in March announced a deal to sell products from its Monoprix stores via Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime service in the Paris area, following a deal last year between Casino and grocery e-commerce technology provider Ocado Group Plc. ... " 

Kroger and Ocado for Delivery Options

Kroger sees Ocado as key to its home delivery plans in FoodBusinessNews

Kroger's deal with high-tech British retailer Ocado could lead to orders for its ClickList service being fulfilled in warehouses instead of on store floors, company executives said. "Obviously, this is built as our online deliver-to-home solution in the US," said Kroger's John Schlotman of the Ocado technology. ... "

Kroger Links to Ocado

In FMI Daily Lead:

Meet Ocado, Kroger's Newest Weapon in Its Grocery Delivery War with Amazon and Walmart ... Kroger to become exclusive US licensee of Ocado technology ... 

In Fortune.
Kroger has forged a deal with British online grocer Ocado, which has been on the forefront of warehouse and delivery automation for online grocery orders. Kroger will be the exclusive US licensee of Ocado's technology and now owns a 5% stake in the UK firm. ... " 

Supply Chain Digest Numbers

Supply Chain Digest publishes sort term news items, based on statistics.  here is an example.  More at the link, but still thin on actual details.   Worth following. 

Supply Chain by the Numbers for Week of Nov. 9, 2017
On-Line Grocer Ocado Automates DC for Success; Deal with the Devil on Chinese Aircraft? Carrier Now Offering Minimum Weekly Driver Pay; Net US Store Closings are Very Much on the Rise ... " 

Ocado Robots Filling Grocery Orders

With video and detail.    Impressive move forward..  Have now watched grocery pick up orders being composed by workers in a standard Kroger store.   Not a fast or even very logical process. 

How Many Robots Does It Take to Fill a Grocery Order?
It once took online grocer Ocado two hours to put together a box of 50 food items. Now machines can do it in five minutes. .... 

By Jing Cao in Bloomberg

More Retail Robotics: Now in the Warehouse

What looks to be a more generalized robotic solution for warehouse tasks.

A supermarket thinks it can create the most advanced robot known to man

Online-only supermarket Ocado is a household name in the UK, and some of you undoubtedly rely on the service to deliver your weekly shop. Something you're unlikely to be aware of, however, is Ocado's work in cutting-edge robotics research. (No, seriously.) A special division of the company looks at technology that'll ultimately benefit its grocery delivery business. And currently, that arm is involved in developing a robot that would make the most advanced automatons around right now look like Furbies. The SecondHands program aims to build a robot that'll effectively become an Ocado warehouse employee, aiding technicians that work in these mammoth sorting offices with equipment repair and all manner of other tasks. ... .... It's collaborating with four European universities, including the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology that, for many years, has been working on the ARMAR humanoid robot program SecondHands will be derived from.  ... ' 

More Tales of Chef Watson

Have spoken to several people recently on the now free and public cognitive demonstration system.   All the comments I have seen, by non professional cooks, have been positive.  Now here another use case.  Includes a recipe:  Chef Watson's Spicy Avocado Brussels Sprouts.    A book on the system is coming out soon.  A classic example of a domain focused, constraint-based advisory system, based on stored cases.  A form of Case Based Reasoning (CBR).

On the Growth of Online Grocery

In the newly discovered Retail Remedy Blog.   Where they write: " ... We offer support and advice to all types of retailers from £bn+ multi nationals to high growth start-ups. Our team has a wealth of hands-on experience covering all aspects of retail, including strategy, sourcing, buying, marketing, store design, team development and, most importantly, customer advocacy ... " 

A post regarding Online Grocery: 
" ... The growth of online grocery has been meteoric and is now worth £6.5bn a year with one in six households placing a grocery order online. Last week Ocado reported the departure of one of its founding partners, Gissing, after reporting a substantial loss when a close to break-even profit was expected. This has again stirred up the debate about whether online grocery can ever be profitable which has yet to be decided one way of the other but has also given Waitrose a poke after falling out over the deal between Ocado and Morrisons. ... "   By Phil Dorrell