Czech online supermarket operator Rohlik Group is equipping its fulfilment centres in Germany and Austria with AI-driven robotic arms from Sereact. In a first step, the Stuttgart-based robotics specialist is installing a total of 24 of the systems at the Knuspr site in Berlin and at Gurkerl in Vienna. The further rollout will then serve Knuspr in Frankfurt/Main and other locations. The project has the potential of leading to triple-digit installation figures.
The robotic arms pick both chilled and ambient products. With the move, Rohlik expects to address the challenge of high-volume, multi-temperature picking with high precision and speed.
Andreas Küllmer, Head of Group Automation at Rohlik Group, explains: “By developing and implementing this initiative across multiple markets, we are not only scaling robotics technology but also building the foundation for the future of automated logistics in e-grocery.”
Integrated into in-house technology platform
Rohlik is fully integrating the Sereact systems into its own technology platform named Veloq. Under the leadership of former Ocado CCO Richard McKenzie, the company founded its subsidiary Veloq in June this year. The unit is set to market logistics solutions for online grocery retailers worldwide.
The modular platform includes AI-based software for fulfilment, intelligent routing for the last mile and grocery-specific e-commerce applications. Full Range Fulfillment from Veloq promises to control handling of the entire e-grocery range in multiple temperature zones and for different delivery types. The solution works with hardware from different leading manufacturers.
Automating one of the last manual steps
The picking robot now takes over one of the last manual steps in Rohlik Group’s logistics operations: the precise gripping and packaging of individual products. A single robot arm is said to be capable of processing up to 600 items per hour. With the help of this technology, the Knuspr logistics centre in Berlin Schönefeld, for example, expects to be able to process up to 10,000 orders per day in future.
