Tag: automation|e-commerce|robotics

Magazino has extended the robot fleet at one of Europe’s leading fashion platforms, Zalando, representing the largest delivery in the young robotics company’s history. The existing fleet of eight robots at the Zalando logistics site in Lahr (Germany) will be expanded by 20 additional robots. Some of the additional robots will already support the picking of shoes ordered online during Cyber Week 2021.

The first 10 additional robots were delivered by Magazino in September 2021. These will support Zalando employees and the existing robot fleet in the upcoming Cyber Week at the end of November. The remaining robots will be delivered to Lahr by the end of the year and put into operation next year. The working area of the robots in the Zalando logistics centre will also increase from 4,000 to 16,000 sq m.

Carl-Friedrich zu Knyphausen, Director Logistics Development at Zalando, said: “We see the mobile picking robots from Magazino as an important support for our logistics processes. Often, automation technologies are difficult to implement in confined areas such as a picking warehouse. But the TORU robots have proven that they can relieve our colleagues of non-ergonomic tasks. They actively and reliably cooperate – and not only in daily business, but also at peak times like Cyber Week.”

Frederik Brantner, CEO and founder of Magazino, said: “The scaling of the robot fleet clearly shows the added value of TORU. Zalando’s decision to roll out our technology on a large scale is proof that mobile robots like TORU have long since left the testing and prototype phase behind and are now an integral part of modern, high-performance intralogistics.”

Zalando launched an initial project with two TORU robots from Magazino at its logistics site in Erfurt back in 2018. This was later followed by the relocation of the robots to the Lahr site and the expansion of the fleet to a total of eight robots in 2019. When all additional robots are in live operation around April 2022, Zalando will be operating the largest fleet of TORU robots.

Boston Dynamics, a leader in mobile robotics, has revealed Stretch, its new box-moving robot designed to support the growing demand for flexible automation solutions in the logistics industry. This debut marks the company’s official entrance into warehouse automation, a fast-growing market fuelled by increased demand in e-commerce.

Stretch is Boston Dynamics’ first commercial robot specifically designed for warehouse facilities and distribution centres, of which there are more than 150,000 globally, according to analysts. The multi-purpose mobile robot is designed to tackle a number of tasks where rapid box moving is required, first starting with vehicle unloading and later expanding into order building. Stretch’s technology builds upon Boston Dynamics’ decades of advancements in robotics to create a flexible, easily-integrated solution that can work in any warehouse to increase their flow of goods, improve employee safety in physically difficult tasks and lower expensive fixed automation costs.

The robot’s small, omni-directional mobile base allows Stretch to navigate loading docks, manoeuvre in tight spaces and adapt to changing facility layouts, eliminating the need for costly fixed automation infrastructure. It is equipped with a custom-designed lightweight arm and a smart-gripper with advanced sensing and controls that can handle a large variety of boxed and shrink-wrapped cases. Stretch also includes Boston Dynamics’ computer vision technology that enables it to identify boxes easily and without extensive training for each customer. Its vision system works in tandem with pick & place activity, enabling high pick rates.

Traditional warehouse automation approaches require either installation of fixed infrastructure or mobile robots that convey goods but struggle to meet productivity requirements to be an attractive investment for warehouse operators. Stretch offers logistics providers an easier path to automation by working within existing warehouse spaces and operations, without requiring costly reconfiguration or investments in new fixed infrastructure.

“Warehouses are struggling to meet rapidly increasing demand as the world relies more on just-in-time delivery of goods,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “Mobile robots enable the flexible movement of materials and improve working conditions for employees. Stretch combines Boston Dynamics’ advancements in mobility, perception and manipulation to tackle the most challenging, injury-prone case-handling tasks, and we’re excited to see it put to work.”

Boston Dynamics is currently seeking customers to pilot test deployment of Stretch with truck unloading tasks ahead of its commercial deployment in 2022. Interested parties can apply to join the Stretch Early Adopter Program by visiting: https://www.bostondynamics.com/stretch.