Tompkins Robotics CEO and President Mike Futch returns to the Executive Series share how the company has changed and adapted in the wake of the pandemic.
Danny:
- Well hello and welcome to today's IndustrialSage Executive Series. I am joined by Tompkins Robotics, their CEO and president, Mike Futch. Mike, thank you so much for joining me today on the IndustrialSage Executive Series.
Mike:
- Thank you for having us. Very happy to be here.
Danny:
- Well I'm excited to talk with you yet again. I think we had you on maybe about a year ago or several months ago. My train of thought from time is just completely changed with Covid.
Mike:
- Yeah, I think it was early summer of 2020 right when we were in the middle of everything and all the uncertainty.
Danny:
- That sounds about right. It sounds like we're still in the middle of stuff with a lot of uncertainty. But hopefully it's getting a little bit better. But we'll jump into that in a little bit here. For those who aren't familiar with Tompkins Robotics, maybe if you could just give me a high-level on who you guys are and what you do.
Mike:
- Certainly. Tompkins Robotics is really focused on using a fleet of AMRs—autonomous mobile robots—that we use for primarily sortation. So think about anything from the size of a penny or a business card up to a meter by a half-meter and 30 kilos or 66 pounds. We have different models that can sort small things, medium-sized things, large things, and we're using those robotic sortation systems to take the place of traditional material handling systems that have been around for, quite honestly, decades. We've got a really exciting portfolio of products. We've really had some interesting things happen in the last 12 months, so to speak. We're starting to work with other robotic firms where we combine our technology with other robotic technology. Think about goods-to-person AMRs. Some people say the old Kiva-style system of moving a shelving pod. Think of pick assist AMRs like a Chuck from 6 River. And think about a goods-to-person AS/RS like an AutoStore. We actually have installations where our primary system tSort is bolted to an AutoStore, and the automated storage and retrieval feeds a pick board where the items are placed on our robots to sort out to 500 or 1000 orders.

Our systems are unique compared to traditional conveyorized systems in that everything you see in our system typically is on wheels which makes it portable, mobile. It's very scalable and modular. And all of that drives a lower cost, higher flexibility, and has really been a game-changer for our customers. We deploy our systems throughout the entire arena, both retail doing ecommerce, store replenishment, returns, shipping. We are doing manufacturing, postal, a lot of different areas. Anywhere that you are sorting individual items for orders or packages to go to a home or business. We even have a micro-fulfillment solution, believe it or not. We just recently had a customer sign up, and the primary reason they signed up was because we could sort eggs with a watermelon behind it, and the eggs are not damaged. And so some really exciting stuff going on there.
Danny:
- Well quite the varied applications there. Yeah, I could see that being an important thing to be able to make the distinction and handle properly watermelon versus eggs right behind it. That makes a lot of sense. You mentioned earlier on, you said those are some of the changes that have hap...