Zalando deploys warehouse robots in first pilot phase

The Toru warehouse robot developed by German fashion e-tailer Zalando, designed to pick shoe boxes from warehouse shelves independently, recently completed its test phase at Zalando’s logistics hub in Erfurt, and will be introduced for a pilot phase at the Lahr warehouse, prior to more extensive deployment.

While the majority of warehouse robots are usually designed to shift pallets, boxes or entire shelving units in some cases, Zalando set itself the challenge, working with robotics specialist Magazino, to develop robots able to assist warehouse staff in picking operations, in other words to pick out a specific set of products and take them to the conveyor belts in the delivery area. A goal that is made possible by the standardisation of shoe boxes, footwear having always been one of Zalando’s leading product categories.

After a test phase in a dedicated area within Zalando’s Erfurt hub, the robots are now going to be handling real orders, working alongside staff of the Lahr warehouse. Zalando said that, due to identification issues and the processing time needed for each operation, the number of parcels handled by a Toru robot is for the time being lower than that handled by a human operator. This is expected to still be the case for the near future. “It’s not a question of shifting to fully automated operations; our strategy is to genuinely promote an effective collaboration between personnel and technology,” said Carl-Friedrich Rico zu Knyphausen, Zalando’s head of logistics development.

In the second quarter, Zalando recorded an EBIT of €102 million, with a 20.1% rise in revenue in the same period, reaching €1.56 billion. This increase was notably driven by a rise in the number of Zalando users in the last year.

Zalando deploys warehouse robots in first pilot phase

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