Robotics firm brings smart fulfillment to ecommerce

Efficient retail supply chain fulfillment has involved robotics for some time. Where traditional operations have bumped up against ecommerce challenges, Berkshire Grey is stepping in to move retailers into a new era. As consumers change the way they buy products, distribution center-level problems are having ripple effects on stores. "There's a push to make store footprints smaller, which means smaller backrooms or even no backrooms, and a push to take inventory out of the chain," says Pete Blair, vice president of marketing at Berkshire Grey. CEO Tom Wagner was previously chief technology officer of iRobot.