GEODIS has announced a partnership with Bastian Solutions to implement an AutoStore system into a new fulfilment site for a leading clothing retailer. The $48.0m material handling equipment deal is said to deliver the highest throughput documented of an AutoStore system globally to support the retailer’s omnichannel capabilities, including e-commerce and its more than 1,000 stores across the United States.
AutoStore is a goods-to-person automated storage and retrieval system that claims to be a market leader in storage density. AutoStore Bins are stacked vertically in a grid and retrieved by robots that travel on the top layer of the system, allowing the grid to be placed around columns and on mezzanines and multiple levels. This design is claimed to allow bins of products to be stacked on top of each other in a condensed grid-style system, increasing storage capacity up to four times in the same footprint, and performance up to 10 times without added workers.
“GEODIS’ strategic partnership with Bastian Solutions and AutoStore will provide us even greater efficiencies and added capacity as we continue to navigate ongoing industry challenges on behalf of our clients, such as swiftly changing consumer buying patterns and labour shortages,” said Rob Thyen, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Facilities at GEODIS in Americas.
GEODIS is estimated to move up to 270,000 order lines per day in service of both retail store and direct-to-consumer channel. GEODIS aims to use the AutoStore system to facilitate fulfilment for its customer’s retail and e-commerce channels to deliver an omnichannel solution. GEODIS will also utilize the AutoStore technology to expedite e-commerce returns. In addition to featuring AutoStore storage and fulfilment technology, GEODIS states that the 400,000 sq ft facility will include robotic piece picking with five robotic arms, automated packing and carton closing, and more. Construction for the site is expected to begin in January 2022 and end in November 2022.
This project marks the second AutoStore system that Bastian Solutions has implemented on behalf of GEODIS. Construction is currently underway for an AutoStore system at a highly automated fulfilment site on behalf of a top pet product retailer, which is expected to be completed in November 2021.
Source: GEODIS
