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The French company Logilec has revealed how its use of robotics is allowing the company to gain ground on Supply Chain Event online. Logilec, an e-commerce specialist, explained how the company has modernized its warehouses with the help of Exotec, the darling of French mobile robotics. The company announced that its productivity has quadrupled since the group took the decision to avail of Exotec’s technology.
Logilec, which is the e-commerce entity of the French retail giant Leclerc, was seeking a way to reduce its storage area while also increasing the activity of its warehouse. As a specialist in e-commerce logistics for parapharmaceutical and cultural products, Logilec considers robotization to be a necessity.
Logilec turned to Exotec to provide a mobile robotics solution that would meet these two requirements. Exotec’s Autonomous mobile robots (AMR), called Skypod, can bring products to preparation stations for shipment by moving at a speed of 4 m/s on the ground while they also have the ability to climb storage racks via a hook.
The Skypods, which are capable of reach up to a height of 12 meters to recover products, thus enabling warehouses to fully exploit their vertical space, according to Evelyne Raynaud, the Exotec director of sales for the Benelux countries and France.
The automation of the Logilec warehouse has been developed over 3 distinct phases:
10,000 bins were installed in one part of the warehouse in the fall of 2019,
20,000 bins and 2 stations were installed in another part of the warehouse in July 2020,
Two new robotic preparation stations will be set up in January 2021.
The 100% automated system is called Skypicker which is a robot bar, carrying a suction cup gripper and a recognition system, that automates order preparation by performing pick and place operations.
