In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, the new coronavirus, is the main news circulating in the headlines of newspapers and social networks. It is impossible not to worry about the impacts that this causes on people's daily lives, who must be careful not to contract and spread the disease. Since the beginning of the year, we have already been reporting here on Insights ILOS about the impacts of the virus on the supply chain, in the blog post Alexandre Lobo and the Monica Barros. The coronavirus affected industries and services, reducing growth projections and creating a strong devaluation on the stock exchanges. This crisis has generated, in several countries, the need to close factories, offices and commerce, due to the high degree of transmission that the virus presents. Consequently, there is great concern about isolating patients to contain the spread of new cases. In this scenario, some countries in the world, mainly China, have used technologies, such as drones and autonomous robots, for numerous activities, from delivering medicines in hospitals to monitoring people on the streets.
The commercial delivery of drones is already a reality in some countries around the world, as I mentioned article, but in the coronavirus crisis we could observe the unfolding of the Chinese technology sector: in a Wall Street Journal report, it is possible to verify the use of drones to monitor people who are practicing some risky behavior, such as walking without a mask or being together with a group of close people. Equipped with thermal cameras and speakers, drones have been used in various regions of China. In some cases, where there is a high-resolution camera, it is possible to implement facial recognition that, integrated with the Chinese government's big data systems, allows the behavior of Chinese citizens to be closely monitored.
Video 1 – Use of drones and big data in the surveillance of Chinese citizens, in order to curb risky behavior and the spread of the virus.
Another use of technology that has been implemented by the Chinese is the use of autonomous robots. In a restaurant, a robot is used to deliver food to the tables, avoiding the contact of a waiter with the numerous customers. In a similar case, a robot is used to deliver food to people in isolation in a hospital.
Video 2 – Autonomous robots deliver food to patients' rooms.
Thinking about operations involving distribution centers, recently Boston Dynamics developed a robot which performs unloading, picking and palletizing activities which, together with Otto Motors' autonomous handling robots, transforms storage activities into an environment that is increasingly independent of human labor. The HandleTM is a robot equipped with deep-learning vision software, which allows it to identify and locate the shipment, has a picking capacity of 360 boxes per hour, supporting loads of up to 15 kg. Its use in CDs appears as an interesting alternative in this scenario of need to avoid crowds and the contagion of COVID-19, in addition to other benefits related to automation in general.
Video 3 – New robot for warehouses by Boston Dynamics, in partnership with Otto Motors. Source: Boston Dynamics
Some attitudes of the Chinese government have caused controversy in terms of privacy and respect for the freedom of its citizens. However, this surveillance that has been implemented, together with other measures that the government has taken, has had an effect as the number of new cases in China dropped throughout the month of March. Meanwhile, it is clear that industry and supply chain activities could be less impacted if robotization and automation of operations were already widely implemented.
And you, are you in favor of the massive implementation of automation and robotization? What other controversies could arise in the near future?
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Henry Alvarenga
He has been working in consultancy for 7 years, with experience in more than 20 Demand Planning and S&OP projects, Logistics Network Design, Logistics Master Plan, Inventory Policies, Operations Strategy and Market Intelligence
