Warehouse robotics company Locus Robotics has announced plans to deploy its first robots in Japan, and is set to introduce 25 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) into Material Bank Japan’s Ichikawa City warehouse.

Material Bank is a digital marketplace that facilitates the sale of material samples to architects and designers. The Locus deployment is in partnership with DesignFuture, the Japanese branch of Material Bank.

Through centralising and reusing samples, Material Bank believes it can reduce the environmental impact of its logistics operations by approximately 70%.

Rick Faulk, chief executive of Locus Robotics, said: “Locus Robotics is proud to partner with DesignFuture Japan and Material Bank, sharing our commitment to bring highly effective, scalable, and efficient robotics solutions to enable designers and architects in Japan.

“We look forward to working together to deliver eco-friendly, cutting-edge robotics technology that will drive significant operational efficiency and productivity gains.”

The LocusBots, which have reportedly been optimised by Locus’ proprietary software, will receive order information and autonomously travel to picking locations across the distribution centre.

Workers will then collaborate with the robots to pick the specific samples required and prepare them to be delivered to another facility ready for last-mile delivery.

What’s more, the robots will guide workers to the appropriate picking destination and display information for them to follow on what samples need to be picked and where they should be placed. Locus claims that this eliminates unproductive walking time and reduces worker fatigue.