DHL Integrates AutoStore in Innovation Center

At the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf near Bonn, everything revolves around visions, trends, and new technologies in logistics. Since the end of 2022, the exhibition area has been enhanced by an innovation: the automatic order fulfillment system from AutoStore, including WMS and a shop solution for retail developed for DHL.

(Mönchengladbach) AutoStore is the new partner in the “Solution Box” at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, showcasing an integrated storage and picking solution for retail in collaboration with the world’s leading logistics company. With this smart solution, retailers can elevate their logistics processes to a new level while simultaneously creating entirely new shopping experiences for their customers. The application example developed with DHL includes an online shop for merchandise items from which visitors to the innovation center can select, order, and pick products themselves.

The core of the solution is an extremely compact demo system of the AutoStore system with 250 bins, operated by two R5 robots, and a workstation. Here, visitors can watch live as the bins containing the items selected in the shop by click are automatically retrieved by robots and transported to the CarouselPort. After retrieval and subsequent confirmation on the monitor, the bin is re-stored. Along with the hardware and the controller for the system, AutoStore has also delivered and implemented its own Warehouse Management (WMS) solution for the first time.

In the current trend report on “The Future of Work in Logistics,” DHL estimates that by 2025, around 52% of manual tasks will be performed by machines. The compact Cube Storage solution from AutoStore with goods-to-person picking enables optimal space utilization and high employee productivity. “AutoStore as a pioneer of Cube Storage Automation and DHL as a thought leader in the logistics industry present a smart complete solution for retail here, perfectly integrating shopping and logistics processes. We are proud to be part of the Solution Box at the DHL Innovation Center with our automated storage solution and to showcase an integrated solution for today’s and tomorrow’s logistics challenges together with DHL,” says Peter Bimmermann, Managing Director of AutoStore System GmbH in Germany and Director of Business Development DACH.

The DHL Innovation Center is visited by around 13,000 guests each year as part of tours, customer workshops, and events. The AutoStore solution is expected to remain part of the exhibition for about two years.

Photo: © AutoStore System GmbH / Caption: AutoStore is a new partner in the “Solution Box” at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf with a solution for retail.