Material Bank is a platform facilitating the distribution of material samples to architects and designers. This deployment is in partnership with DesignFuture, which is described as ‘the Japanese arm 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”.

He added: “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 will receive information about orders, that have been optimised by Locus software, and ‘autonomously travel to each pick location in the [nearly 65,000ft²]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.

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’.