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After transforming grocery shopping in the UK, Ocado has turned its gaze to the rest of the world, selling expertise and equipment to shopping chains going online. Exporting its slickly automated robotic process requires an imaginative approach, says product engineering specialist Charlie Watts:
“I work in our central department, responsible for getting our products and Ocado Smart Platform – the mechanical hardware and end-to-end solution that we sell to other grocery companies – working for our customers. If a company doesn’t do online selling, we can supply all our technology experience and engineering. It’s a quickfire way to join the market.
“There is a really broad spread of engineering, from mechanical and automation to construction and systems. The R&D department works on new products to go into warehouses, our central unit gets those products into client sites and the final section is ongoing support.
“I focus on our ‘peripherals’, points where humans come into contact with our technology, such as ‘decant’. That is where inbound stock comes in, very large packages that an operator breaks down into something more manageable. We record data to keep track of stock – how much it weighs, its sell-by-date, how much we have got.
“The peripheral is an operator station which contains empty ‘totes,’ bags or boxes used to store products. We put items in the tote, they go onto a conveyor belt and then they are picked up by a bot which stacks them in the ‘Hive,’ where products are stored before being picked, packed and sent out.
“Our orchestrated bot ‘swarm’ automatically delivers products to operators for packing. We use machine learning to optimise packing – to prevent heavy items crushing others, for example.”
Bots move groceries around the 'Hive' quickly and accurately
Consultancy role
“I did mechanical engineering at university and now work across electrical as well. I handle automation products that have gone through the development cycle but I also work as a consultant to make sure my knowledge of existing products can be implemented.
“I support supply-chain activities, making sure the manufacturers we work with are building something repeatable and consistent. We use many industry standard methods such as PPAP (Production Part Approval Process). One of the key things we do is break down the manufacturing process into manageable and repeatable work ‘packages’. I also follow machines to site to give expertise and help integration.
“The last bit of the cycle is continuous improvement. There is a big drive to prevent downtime and we are always making sure our warehouses are the best possible. I look at things from a cost-benefit perspective and work on designs for international use.
“One of the challenges we have faced is our new products don’t necessarily already comply with differing international standards, such as voltages and safety regulations. I often travel to the site for Sobey’s in Canada and it’s been really exciting to learn about how some things are done differently.
“Sometimes we have to make changes, to an access point for example, so a new product fits in with a customer’s facility. In the UK, we can design our warehouses to match our machines, but now we need to configure machines to customers’ warehouses. Taking a modular approach, designing interface modules to accommodate different applications, is one of the really exciting ways we can do that.”
Big picture
“People don’t realise the broad range of things we do. Engineers keep our systems running 24/7, develop new products, manage hundreds of contractors abroad and fit our amazing highly-automated warehouses in the UK. There are so many experts everywhere you look, and there is a lot of encouragement to move departments.
“You’re always looking ahead at the big picture.”
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.