The central cloud platform AnyFleet and a fleet of iw.hubs, idealworks’ AMRs, support employees in autonomously transporting orders ready for shipment in the outbound goods area. Before the four-month test phase at the end of 2020, employees transported the packages themselves using trolleys – a repetitive and physically demanding task that has been automated. On the 50-meter-long route, the iw.hubs reach speeds of up to 8 km/h and transport goods weighing up to 1,000 kg. They receive their transport requests from AnyFleet, which in turn is connected to Zalando’s IT system ZalOs. Following the successful implementation at the Zalando logistics center in Mönchengladbach, the company looked into further use cases for autonomous transports in its logistics centers. In 2023, additional iw.hubs will head to Lahr/Black Forest, while the new use case will resemble the Mönchengladbach one. This does not only make this success story a great scaling story, but it also reflects the mutual trust the cooperation between Zalando and idealworks is based on.

Since the AMRs will soon be present at two Zalando locations and as they are up and running in no time via the central cloud platform AnyFleet, Zalando can easily shift them from one warehouse to another, and thus react to changing demand.

Planning for shifts in demand is an essential part of warehouse management. With idealworks’ AMRs, Zalando’s warehouses are well-equipped for peak season.

“We are constantly looking for new technologies that both help us as a company and support our employees. Monotonous tasks in the shipping area, for example, are taken over by idealworks’ AMRs.”

– Marcus Daute, Director Logistics Product & Strategy, Zalando SE.