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The retail industry’s steady march toward warehouse automation has kicked into high gear recently, driven by the coronavirus pandemic and a resulting acceleration of online ordering for just about everything. As retailers struggle to keep up with an ever-increasing volume of orders and escalating last-mile delivery demands, warehouse automation is quickly turning into the trump card for those looking to get a leg up on the competition—especially in the fast-paced and competitive e-grocery market. Dutch online supermarket Picnic is a prime example of how this trend is playing out. A relatively new player in the European e-grocery market, Picnic has embarked on a project with global systems integrator TGW Logistics Group that it says will revolutionize operations at its Utrecht, Netherlands, fulfillment center, creating a highly automated, robotic facility that will speed delivery, help eliminate waste across its supply chain, and allow the company to more quickly expand its customer base across The Netherlands and Germany. Underway now, the project is scheduled for completion next year. “[Our] robot-assisted distribution center in Utrecht, in combination with our electric cars, is the foundation of our unique ‘farm to fork’ strategy …,” explains Picnic co-founder Frederik Nieuwenhuys, emphasizing the company’s technology-driven approach to delivering fresh products to consumers. “The partnership with TGW … brings together two teams with knowledge of the latest technology and software.” The Utrecht center will be Picnic’s first highly automated fulfillment center and will serve 150,000 families per week in the central region of the country. At its core is a shuttle-based automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) comprising roughly 40 aisles and more than 200,000 storage locations, driven by an energy-efficient conveyor network and featuring ergonomic picking stations. Importantly, the shuttle system will automate all three temperature zones (ambient, chilled, and freezer storage) in the facility. The […]