Fetch Robotics democratizes warehouse automation

Both of these tend to be expensive and time-consuming, he explained, and often lead to workflows that can’t be updated or changed without extensive outside support.

Workflow Builder, by contrast, is a simple intuitive tool based on Blockly, the language used to teach non-programmers to code, and “very flexibly allows customers to set up the workflow they want the robots to perform.”

It not only allows operators to program where the robots need to go but also enables execution of other tasks, such as turning the conveyor on and off and negotiating exceptions, the places where things “get really tricky,” Nusser said.

For example, if the robot’s path was blocked by a forklift, the operator can express in the work instructions a designated place for the robot to stop. The instructions would also trigger an email to an operator who would manually fix the remedy. 

Complementing Fetch’s robot-as-a-service model, Workflow allows companies to scale easily, changing processes as the fleet size changes “since you are doing this in-house,” Nusser explained.

Fetch joins other startups such as Geek+ and 6 River Systems in catering to fast-growing ecommerce industrial, manufacturing and logistics customers that require the speed and efficiency of automation.

The company raised $46 million in Series C round of funding in July and to date has raised a total of $94 million.