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Get a walkthrough of Pio from warehouse expert Craig, or ask our chatbot.
Let the robots do the walking.
Take a closer look at the grid, bins, robots, ports and software that make Pio work.
System overview
Pio stores inventory in bins stacked inside an aluminum grid. Robots drive across the top of the grid, retrieve the bin needed for an order and bring it to a port, where your team picks the items. The Pio app manages orders and inventory and connects with the ecommerce platform, ERP, or WMS you already use.
01 Grid
The grid is the aluminum frame of the cube storage system. Bins stack directly on top of each other inside it, with no aisles in between, so every inch works for you.
FAST TRACK: Tracks run along the X and Y axis on top of the grid, so robots move quickly and can reach any stack of bins without obstacles.
GROW AS YOU GO: The grid is modular, so extending it is easy. In most cases, we can safely isolate the extension area and expand the grid with no downtime and minimal impact on your daily work.
SERVICE ACCESS: The service tower gives access to the top of the grid, with a robot lift for adding or removing robots and a ladder for your team. The service trolley can be used for cleaning the system and simple fixes.
GRID HEIGHT: The grid builds upward to use your ceiling height, so a taller grid stores more in the same footprint. Pio comes in versions for 14 ft (4.3 m), 18 ft (5.5 m), and 22 ft (6.7 m) ceilings.
02 Bins
Bins hold your products and stack inside the grid, making Pio a high-density storage system with up to 10x more stock in the same footprint. Built tough, they last for years.
INSIDE DIMENSIONS
W: 15.9 in (403 mm) / L: 23.7 in (603 mm) / H: 12.3 in (312 mm)
CAPACITY
Volume: 2.67 cu ft (75.5 L) / Max load: 66 lbs (30 kg)
COMPARTMENTS
Bins come in 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 compartment configurations.
Each compartment holds one SKU:
Fact 1: A bin can hold up to 70 t-shirts, 200 iPhones, or 5 shoe boxes.
Fact 2: The bins are large enough to fit 85% of goods sold on Amazon.
Fact 3: Made of strong HDPE plastic, the bins are so durable that bins from 2005 are still in use.
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03 Robots
Pio is created by AutoStore, and its robots use the same technology as more than 65,000 AutoStore robots worldwide. They work around the clock, retrieving the bin you need and delivering it straight to a port.
RELIABLE TO THE CORE
Each robot works independently, so there is no single point of failure and the system keeps 99.7% uptime. Any robot can collect any bin and deliver it to any port, giving you access to 100% of your stock whenever you need it.
ENERGY EFFICIENT
Each robot takes the closest task by the shortest route. Like an electric car, it recovers energy and feeds it back into its battery.
SEASONAL SCALING
Add robots when your busy season starts and scale back when things calm down, so your capacity follows your order volume.
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04 Ports & Workstations
With goods-to-person picking, robots bring bins to the port and your team picks without walking the aisles. That means up to 80% less manual work and 99.9% picking accuracy.
ALL ACCESS:
All of the inventory can be accessed from every port, so you don't risk having inventory stuck if there's a holdup at one workstation. There's no need to pass orders to other workstations to complete them. Orders are simply packed and completed on the spot, reducing human error.
FLEXIBLE
All ports can be used for both picking and storing inventory. You can pick and store at different ports at the same time, so inbound deliveries never delay fulfillment.
POWER CONSUMPTION
Avg: 20 Watts
* Tables and IT equipment are procured by the customer to complete the Workstation according to needs.
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05 Shelves
Pio works alongside your shelves for bulky or oversized items that don't fit in the grid. The Pio app manages shelf locations, so one order can combine order lines from shelves and the grid.
SIZE ISN'T A PROBLEM
In warehouses that can fit most of their inventory in the Pio Grid, shelves will typically be used for items that don’t fit inside of a bin (think: skis or bulky overcoats).
BACKSTOCK
If you keep buffer stock outside Pio, the grid becomes your fast-pick zone. Set a min and max quantity per SKU in the grid, and the Pio app keeps a live replenishment list so your team knows exactly what to restock.
SHELF BATCH PICKING
The Pio app plans the shortest route for picking several orders from shelves at the same time. Items go on a trolley to a port, where they join the items from the grid.
See the Shelf picking and Move features.
* Note that shelves are not part of the physical system, and are procured by the customer.
In warehouses that can fit most of their inventory in the Pio Grid, shelves will typically be used for items that don’t fit inside of a bin (think: skis or bulky overcoats).
BACKSTOCK
If you keep buffer stock outside Pio, the grid becomes your fast-pick zone. Set a min and max quantity per SKU in the grid, and the Pio app keeps a live replenishment list so your team knows exactly what to restock.
SHELF BATCH PICKING
The Pio app plans the shortest route for picking several orders from shelves at the same time. Items go on a trolley to a port, where they join the items from the grid.
See the Shelf picking and Move features.
* Note that shelves are not part of the physical system, and are procured by the customer.
06 Software and IT
PIO APP
Your team only needs one tool, the Pio app. It runs in the cloud on iPads at the ports and connects to Shopify and other ecommerce platforms, your ERP, or your WMS through the Pio API or ready-made plugins.
Areas of integration:
- Stores (allows multiple order/inventory channels)
- Inventory
- Orders
- Shipping
- Purchase orders
- Pio sandbox environment
- API documentation: dev.pio.com
CUSTOMER CONSOLE
Super Users, team members trained by Pio, use the service software on a separate PC for simple tasks, like starting and stopping the system or adding robots.
CONTROLLER
· Controller PC: The brain that controls the system.
· Uninterruptible power supply (UPS): This ensures the controller has power and a controlled shutdown in case of a power outage.
· Safety module:Controls the safety functions.
· App server: For supporting apps, backup and cloud connections.
The system needs a stable Wi-Fi connection to run, just like the rest of your software.
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Pick the picking flow that fits
Pick & Pass: Pick at the port and handle packing and shipping as best suited for your operation
See Pick & Pass
See Pick & Pass
WATCH INTRODUCTION
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Installation in as little as 5 days.
01
Plan and prep: We guide you through the preparation, so installation and integration can run as smoothly as possible.
02
Installation: Quick and easy, with a standard P100 taking as little as 5 days. Larger grids take longer.
03
Training and support: We train your team so new pickers can start picking in 5 minutes, with support from us along the way.
"The robots can deal with the warehouse and we can focus on people."
