warehousing and storage establishments in the Houston metro.
BLS QCEW, 202406:00 · First shift · Houston warehouses
Warehouse robots for Houston: the robots haul, your crew handles the skill.
Autonomous robots move carts and pallets from receiving to the pick line and back, and scrub the floor on a schedule. Set up and serviced locally with our partner RobotLAB Houston West, Stafford TX.
Your 2026 investment window closes in
Robots you own or finance and place in service by December 31, 2026, 11:59 PM Houston time may qualify for a 2026 deduction. Not tax advice.
Plan for 2027 · 100% bonus depreciation is permanent
Prefer to talk now? Call Exel Robotics (832) 363-7005
Pudu T600 · material transport
Vendor-neutral. We fit the robot to your floor — chosen on the walkthrough from leading makers across the industry, not one we’re stuck selling:
- Pudu
- Gausium
- LionsBot
- CenoBots
- temi
- + more
Receiving · follow the load
06:00First shiftBy the numbers
Houston moves freight, by the numbers.
Every warehouse runs the same loop: receive, put away, pick, pack and ship — then a floor to keep clean across every shift. A lot of that loop is still hand-carried: the Houston metro has 52,520 hand laborers and material movers alone.
hand laborers and material movers in the metro, at a median $18.27 an hour.
BLS OEWS, May 2025of supply-chain and logistics leaders report notable workforce shortages; warehouse operations are among the hardest hit.
Descartes, Jan 2024Across transportation and warehousing, workers quit at about 2.1% a month in 2025, a touch above the 2.0% across all jobs (national figures); industry estimates put annual warehouse turnover near 37%. BLS JOLTS · Modern Materials Handling
What it costsLabor
Moving and cleaning are paid hours.
In Houston, hand laborers and material movers earn a median $18.27 an hour, stockers and order fillers $17.74, forklift operators $22.11 and janitors $14.74 (BLS, May 2025). Houston OEWS wages
The loop breaks in the same places: long hauls from receiving to the racks, totes carried to the pack line, and paid hours spent pushing a scrubber at shift change. Robots take the hauling and the floor work, so those hours can go to picking, QA and loading — or come off the schedule.
Size it for your floor07:00Pick & replenishWho does what
The robot hauls. Your crew handles the skill.
The repetitive trips are what burn a shift: receiving to the racks, totes to the pack line, empties back. We set it up so the robot takes the trips and your team keeps the judgment work — picking, QA, loading and anything that needs a person.
What the robot takes
- Horizontal transport: carts, totes and pallets from receiving to put-away, pick to pack, pack to dock.
- Pick-to-cart runs: it follows the picker down the aisle and carries the order, so no one walks totes back.
- Under-cart moves: the T600 slides under a cart or shelf, lifts and hauls it on its own.
- Floors across shifts: sweeping and scrubbing the open floor, on a schedule.
What stays with your team
- The pick and the pack. Hands and judgment stay human.
- Forklift and dock work, receiving checks and put-away decisions.
- QA and exceptions: damages, mis-picks, anything off-script.
- Anything heavy, high or hazardous you’d rather keep in trained hands.
No forklifts replaced: the robots move carts, totes and pallets at floor level. Pallet lifting and racking stay with your lift operators.
09:30Haul · replenishPudu T600
What a transport robot does on a shift.
The Pudu T600 is a heavy-duty mover. Your team loads a cart, tote stack or pallet and sends it; the underride version drives under a cart, lifts it and hauls it to the next zone on its own.
Heavy, repeatable hauls
Up to 600 kg — about 1,322 lb — per trip, from receiving to the racks and back, all shift.
Under-cart lift
The low underride body slides under a cart or shelf and lifts it, so you move the carts you already own.
Called to the zone, paced to your aisles
Staff call it to a station, and we set its speed and routes to your aisles and traffic.
Spec sheet Manufacturer claims
- Max payload 600 kg (1,322 lb), standard and underride versions
- Up to 12 h run time with no load; about 2 h to charge
- Needs 65 cm (underride) to 70 cm (upright) of aisle clearance
- Speed from 0.2 to 1.2 m/s
Limit: it moves carts, totes and pallets at floor level; pallet racking and lifts stay with your forklift crew. Pudu T600 spec page
Lighter loads? Pudu T300 Manufacturer claims
- Up to 300 kg (661 lb) per trip; the towing version pulls more
- Tote and carton moves in tighter 60 cm aisles; speed up to 1.2 m/s
A smaller option for lighter, faster loops. Pudu T300
T600 · hauling a cart
22:00Between shiftsFloor cleaning
Clean floors, every shift.
Warehouse floors are big, flat and hard. Set a schedule and autonomous sweepers and scrubbers work the aisles and open bays between shifts — the CenoBots S5 covers the big open floors, with Pudu’s MT1 and CC1 Pro for sweeping and scrubbing the rest.
Floor care, handled. Your crew keeps picking and loading; the robot works the floor on the schedule you set.
Autonomous scrubber · open floor
CenoBots S5
- 820 mm (32") sweep path; 50 L hopper with HEPA filtration
- About 2,500 m² — 27,000 sq ft — an hour
- 32-beam 3D LiDAR; ~130 kg; about 2 h to charge
An autonomous industrial sweeper built for large warehouse floors. Manufacturer claims CenoBots
Pudu MT1
- 700 mm path; up to 1,800 m² an hour (spot cleaning up to 6,000)
- 35 L debris bin; speed 0.2–1.2 m/s
- Runs 4–8 h; under 3 h to charge
A dry sweeper for dust and debris; pair it with the CC1 Pro for wet scrubbing. Manufacturer claims Pudu
Pudu CC1 Pro
- 4-in-1: sweeps, scrubs, vacuums and dust-mops
- 700–1,000 m² an hour; 15 L tanks
- For offices, aisles and mixed surfaces, not big open bays
Best for tighter, mixed spaces. Manufacturer claims Pudu
WalkthroughBefore any quoteYour floor
Will it fit our floor?
We check six things on the walkthrough, and we say plainly if a lane or a zone won’t work.
01Aisle clearance
The T600 needs 65 cm (underride) to 70 cm (upright) of clearance Manufacturer claim. We measure every aisle, pick face and cross-aisle on the route. Pudu
02Floor & joints
Sealed or epoxy concrete suits the scrubber best. We note joints, cracks, drains and slopes that change how it cleans.
03Docks, ramps & thresholds
Dock levelers, ramps and tall thresholds need a closer look, so we check every transition on the route.
04Racking & turning
Turning radius at aisle ends and around racking. We map where the robot can turn and where it can’t.
05Wi-Fi coverage
We check the signal across the floor, including the shadows behind tall racking, and flag dead spots to fix before go-live.
06Traffic & forklift zones
We separate robot routes from forklift lanes and busy cross-traffic, and set charging spots and areas to avoid.
What a warehouse robot costs: what a quote includes.
Cost depends on how many robots you need, your floor plan and how you pay: buy, finance or Robotics-as-a-Service. So we don’t print prices. A written quote follows your walkthrough.
- The robots, with buy, finance or Robotics-as-a-Service terms side by side
- Mapping and setup: routes, charging spots and zones to avoid
- Staff training for pickers, leads and the cleaning crew
- The service plan: local service from our partner in Stafford, TX
- Anything the walkthrough finds, such as a Wi-Fi fix or a dock transition
Your operationWhere it fitsSix formats
Built for busy floors.
3PL & fulfillment
High pick volume and long travel from receiving to pack-out, on repeat.
457 warehousing and storage establishments in the metro · BLS, 2024
Distribution centers
Big open floors, deep racking and steady replenishment runs across shifts.
Manufacturing & light industrial
Line-side delivery and work-in-progress moves between cells, plus floors to keep clean.
Cold storage
Repetitive moves in tough conditions. We check each robot’s temperature rating on the walkthrough.
E-commerce & parcel
Pick-to-cart and tote moves to pack and sortation, right through the peak.
Retail & grocery DCs
Backrooms and grocery distribution. Robots for restaurants → · for hotels →
Your numbersHours estimatorArithmetic only
Labor hours you can redeploy.
Put in your own numbers for material moving and floor cleaning. The estimator shows the formula, then how many hours a year robots could take over and what those hours represent in wages.
Your floor, your numbersYour inputs
Labor hours you can redeployEstimate
Estimate based on your inputs. Not a quote or a guarantee.
Step 1 · Hours redeployed each year
—hrs
(material-moving hrs + floor-cleaning hrs) a day × share × days a week × 52 weeks
Step 2 · What those hours represent
Dollars redeployed each year$—
hours a year × your hourly wage
Hours each week—
Redeployed hours can go back to picking and loading or come off the schedule; that’s your call. This is arithmetic on the numbers you entered. It isn’t a quote or a guarantee, and it doesn’t include robot, service or financing costs.
Day 1How it worksFive steps
From walkthrough to go-live.
Setup takes weeks, not days: mapping the floor, setting routes, fitting it to your traffic and dock schedule, and test runs before go-live. GEODIS’s Dallas DC mapped a roughly 40,000 sq ft pick area before its robots went live. Locus case study, Mar 2024
December fills up fast, so book the walkthrough early for a 2026 install.
- 01
Walkthrough
We walk your floor with you: the floor plan, aisle widths, docks, floor type, traffic and Wi-Fi.
- 02
Written plan, then a written quote
Which robots, which jobs and which routes, with buy, finance or Robotics-as-a-Service options in writing.
- 03
Mapping and setup
The robot maps your floor; we set routes, charging spots and zones to avoid, then test-run them around your traffic.
- 04
Staff training
A hands-on session for pickers, leads and the cleaning crew: calling the robot, loading, pausing and charging.
- 05
Local service from our partner
Ongoing support and service from our partner RobotLAB Houston West, Stafford TX.
Year-end timingDecember 31, 2026
For a 2026 deduction, robots you own or finance must be placed in service — delivered, mapped and working on your floor — by December 31, 2026.
Setup takes weeks and holiday parties fill December, so book the walkthrough early. Install dates depend on your walkthrough; we don’t guarantee a December 31 install.
The 2026 window has closed · 100% bonus depreciation is permanent · plan for 2027
Your 2026 investment window closes in
Book a free warehouse walkthroughCounts down to 11:59 PM, December 31, 2026, Houston time.
Dec 31Year-end timing2026 tax year
Robots in service by Dec 31 may qualify for a 2026 deduction.
100%
Bonus depreciation or Section 179
Robots you own or finance, placed in service by December 31, 2026, may qualify for 100% bonus depreciation, now permanent for property acquired after January 19, 2025, or for Section 179, up to $2.56 million for 2026 and phasing out above $4.09 million. IRS Notice 2026-11 · Rev. Proc. 2025-32 · IRS Pub 946
It needs taxable income
A deduction only helps against 2026 taxable income at least the size of the deduction. If a slow year leaves little taxable income, ask your advisor whether Robotics-as-a-Service fits better.
Robotics-as-a-Service
Monthly payments are generally deductible as a business expense; bonus depreciation goes to whoever owns the equipment. Confirm with your advisor.
Financing
Our banking partners are lined up to finance your investment. Subject to credit approval.
Your example · 2026 returnFederal estimate
Enter an amount from $0 to $2,560,000.
%
Enter a rate from 0 to 50%.
Deducted on your 2026 return, if it qualifies$—
Less federal tax, about$—
equipment cost × your federal tax rate
Full estimator: buy, finance or RaaSFederal estimate. Texas has no personal or corporate income tax. Ask your accountant about the franchise (margin) tax.
Texas franchise tax: from the 2026 report onward, federal bonus depreciation can flow into Texas cost of goods sold (Texas Comptroller memo, Dec 2025). Comptroller memo · Forvis Mazars summary
Not tax advice. It needs 2026 taxable income at least the size of the deduction; confirm eligibility with your tax advisor.
On the recordPublished resultsThird-party sources
What’s been published about robots like these.
Third-party reports, dated and linked, including the one that cuts against us. No testimonials or logos here until a Houston customer agrees in writing to be named.
GEODIS — Dallas, TXMar 2024 · Texas
GEODIS ran 12 Locus Vector picking robots across a roughly 40,000 sq ft pick area. In the published case study, picking rose from 65 to 98 units an hour — about 50% more. Locus Robotics case study, Mar 2024
Why it matters: the gain was real and measured — in that building, with that work. We size each warehouse on its own hours before we quote.
Not an Exel customer. Locus Robotics robots; vendor-reported, customer-confirmed.Walmart — autonomous floor scrubbers2018 → 2021
Walmart began with 360 autonomous floor scrubbers in 2018–19, then expanded the fleet to about 1,860 machines by 2021 — one of the largest autonomous-cleaning rollouts on record. Chain Store Age, 2021
Not an Exel customer. Retail-store floors, not a DC. Brain Corp / Tennant machines.Takeoff TechnologiesMay 2024 · the cautionary one
The micro-fulfillment automation firm filed for Chapter 11 in May 2024; its pilots hadn’t scaled, and its assets were sold off in the bankruptcy. Grocery Dive, May 2024
Why it matters: warehouse automation ROI depends on the site, and some deployments fail. That’s exactly why we size yours first and put buy, finance and RaaS in writing.
Not an Exel customer.FAQPlain English
Warehouse robot FAQ.
Will a robot replace my warehouse crew?
No. The robot takes the repetitive hauling and the floor cleaning; your team keeps picking, packing, QA, loading and forklift work. We size each site before we quote.
How much can a Pudu T600 carry?
Up to 600 kg — about 1,322 lb — per trip, per Pudu. The underride version slides under a cart or shelf and lifts it. Pallet racking and lifts stay with your forklift crew.
Our aisles are tight. Will it fit?
The T600 needs 65 cm (underride) to 70 cm (upright) of clearance, per Pudu. We measure every aisle, dock and transition on the walkthrough and tell you plainly if a lane won’t work.
Is the return real?
It depends on the site. GEODIS’s Dallas DC reported picking rising from 65 to 98 units an hour with picking robots; others have struggled — Takeoff Technologies filed Chapter 11 in 2024. That’s why we size each warehouse on its own hours before we quote.
Do the robots work around our forklifts?
Yes. They move at floor level, and we set routes and speeds around your forklift lanes, cross-traffic and dock schedule. Charging spots and no-go zones are set on the walkthrough.
Which robots clean the floor?
For big open floors, the CenoBots S5 industrial sweeper. Pudu’s MT1 also sweeps, and the CC1 Pro scrubs aisles and mixed areas. We’re vendor-neutral, so we match the machine to your floor.
How much floor can one sweeper cover?
The CenoBots S5 covers about 2,500 m² — 27,000 sq ft — an hour, per the manufacturer; the Pudu MT1 up to 1,800 m² an hour. We run them on a schedule between shifts.
Does it need special floors or markers?
No floor QR codes or wires — these robots use LiDAR and vision to navigate. We check floor joints, ramps, dock transitions and Wi-Fi on the walkthrough.
Can we buy, finance or use Robotics-as-a-Service?
All three. Equipment you buy or finance may qualify for 100% bonus depreciation or Section 179, and our banking partners are lined up to finance, subject to credit approval. Robotics-as-a-Service payments are generally deductible as a business expense. We put the options in writing after your walkthrough.
We weren’t very profitable this year. Does the deduction still help?
A deduction only helps against taxable income at least the size of the deduction. If a slow year leaves little, Robotics-as-a-Service payments are a monthly expense instead. Confirm with your advisor.
How long does setup take?
Weeks, not days: mapping, routes, any integration and test runs before go-live. To be in service by December 31, book early.
What about the Texas franchise tax?
From the 2026 report onward, federal bonus depreciation can flow into Texas cost of goods sold, per a December 2025 Texas Comptroller memo. That’s a question for your accountant. Not tax advice.
BookFree walkthrough
Book a free warehouse walkthrough.
Tell us about your warehouse and pick a time for a 15-min call. From there we plan a free on-site walkthrough of your floor: the routes, the aisles and the jobs to start with. A written plan follows, then a written quote.
Call · Exel Robotics(832) 363-7005
Demos, deployment and serviceWith our partner RobotLAB Houston West, Stafford TX
Free walkthrough or 15-min callLive calendar