Rhenus Logistics invests in robotic stackers

For several years, Rhenus has been using EffiBOT robots to optimise order preparation in eComm. Rhenus’ French distribution centre in Saint-Quentin Fallavier (Isère) was looking for similar robotic solutions for its order preparation process on pallets and not bins. Effidence has designed a new AGV/AMR to meet the need and worked with Manitou Group to fulfil the order.

With Rhenus, the two companies have signed a strategic business partnership across Europe.

Effidence president Cédric Tessier said: “We have built a solution of mobile stacker robots that autonomously move towards the item to be picked according to the orders issued by the WMS. The pickers, stationary in the aisles, take the goods and place them on the pallets. A server smartly distributes this fleet of stackers to ensure that the machines circulate smoothly and minimise waiting time for the pickers. By significantly reducing the walking distance of pickers, productivity is improved. Finally, unlike the traditional approach where an order is carried out entirely by a picker, the swarm of robots brings greater scalability thanks to the parallelisation of orders (one order per robot).”

For more information, visit www.effidence.com