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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, September 1, 2010
Tech across New England
Kiva Systems' robots, software fulfilling orders
By Mass High Tech Staff
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Kiva Systems
Location: Woburn, Mass.
Web: www.kivasystems.com
Phone: 781-221-4640
Founded: 2003
Top Executive: Mick Mountz, CEO & Founder
Industry: Robotics-based order fulfillment
Kiva’s Mobile Fulfillment System (MFS) is a next-generation automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that uses a simple set of equipment and powerful control software to provide a complete order fulfillment solution: storing, moving and sorting inventory, bringing it to workers instead of making workers go get it. Instead of being stored in static shelving, flow racks or carousels, products are stored in inventory pods in the center of the warehouse while operators stand at inventory stations around the perimeter. When an order is received, robotic drive units retrieve the appropriate pods and bring them to the worker, who picks out the appropriate item and places it in the carton. Completed orders are stored on separate pods, ready to get up and move to the loading dock when the truck arrives.
Kiva Systems was recently ranked number 6 in the 2009 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in America. According to CEO Mick Mountz the company is on track to double its business this year.
From the top, CEO Mick Mountz: “We’ve taken a radical approach to order fulfillment and distribution...Until now, warehouses and distribution centers were viewed as fixed, static facilities where workers went to fetch products for packing, spending up to 70 percent of their time walking. Our technology turns that on its ear. Think of it as inventory that can walk and talk on its own. It’s truly disruptive technology.”
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