IKEA Launches Micro Fulfillment Robotics with Swisslog in Zagreb

The furniture retailer IKEA has launched a micro-fulfillment center in Zagreb, planned and installed by the intralogistics provider Swisslog. As the first project of its kind, the Swedish furniture giant operates such a solution. This allows IKEA to make e-commerce in Zagreb significantly faster and more resource-efficient.

(Buchs/Zagreb) A groundbreaking pilot project in Zagreb: IKEA has put its first micro-fulfillment center into operation in the Croatian capital. This center was planned and installed by the Swiss intralogistics provider Swisslog and is intended to serve as a model for a number of other IKEA locations worldwide. “The micro-fulfillment center is part of IKEA’s ‘Store of the Future’ program and has numerous advantages,” says Swisslog Head of EMEA Jens Schmale, explaining: “It accelerates material flows for online orders, makes them more efficient, shortens delivery times, and reduces transportation costs.”

Schmale is pleased about this forward-looking project: “Our entire team was excited to support IKEA in its micro-fulfillment strategy. The center is at the core of an innovative customer experience program at the multinational furniture company.”

High-Performance Logistics Facility

The micro-fulfillment center in Zagreb is located on a mezzanine level between the sales exhibition area – the Market Mall – and the sales warehouse – Cash & Carry area – within the IKEA furniture store. It is an automated storage and picking system. “Our client opted for a high-performance AutoStore system,” specifies Schmale. The solution includes 6,000 containers, 14 robots from the ‘Black Line’ series, and four connected workstations, which are currently used for the storage and picking of around 2,900 items from the IKEA range. These are small parts weighing a maximum of 30 kilograms each.

In the periphery of the AutoStore cube, Swisslog has connected a QuickMove light conveyor system, which serves to transport the picked goods from the pick workstations via an automatic carton packaging machine to the shipping area. If an online order includes large items from the manual warehouse in addition to small parts, an order consolidation follows the automation in the AutoStore system. The control and optimization of all processes is managed by Swisslog’s SynQ warehouse management software.

Productivity Increase from 12 to 170 Order Lines per Hour

EMEA Head Schmale describes: “Whether for Click & Collect or home delivery, the micro-fulfillment center significantly contributes to IKEA’s ability to further improve its customer service and efficiency in e-commerce.” Previously, the furniture company estimated its capacity for processing online orders such that an employee covers an average of one kilometer per order, with a productivity of 12 order lines per hour. With the use of the micro-fulfillment center, the Swedish company expects around 170 order lines in the same timeframe. “This is a tremendous increase in productivity while conserving resources,” emphasizes Schmale. “The new facility will pay for itself very quickly.”

Expertise in Traditional Retail, E-Commerce, and Micro-Fulfillment

By awarding the contract to Swisslog, IKEA relied on the special expertise of the Swiss intralogistics provider in the fields of traditional retail and e-commerce. After just nine months of implementation time, the new micro-fulfillment center was able to go into operation in April 2021 in Zagreb.

Another large international company is also relying on Swisslog’s know-how for micro-fulfillment: Peapod Digital Labs, the e-commerce and digital strategy subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize USA. Ahold Delhaize is one of the world’s leading food retailers with its own supermarkets as well as online business. The new micro-fulfillment center is being established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to help process 15,000 online orders with home delivery service per week. The project is of great significance for the company, as Ahold Delhaize USA aims to become the leading omnichannel food retailer in its market.

Photo: © Swisslog / Caption: IKEA employees at the goods-to-person pick station use the Swisslog SynQ Warehouse Management Software.