AutoStore’s New Robot Factory Makes Supply Chains Safer
AutoStore, a technology company that develops order-fulfilment solutions for businesses across 54 countries, has opened a new robot factory in Thailand.
The factory will enable AutoStore to double production capacity and meet the growing demand for automated supply chain solutions.
Within the first year, the company aims to produce 15,000 robots- doubling its current capacity to meet the demand of North American customers such as Medline and Puma.
The opening of the factory, which is expected to create 200-300 jobs by 2026, follows the expansion of its key US partnerships and opening of its new US headquarters.
The move is designed to help the company better serve its leading brands, such as Puma, Gucci and BestBuy, by moving operations closer to their key markets.
Automation improves warehouse safety
The announcement comes as millions of retail warehouse jobs are left unfilled and Vector Solutions’ recent ‘State of Industrial Worker Safety and Well-Being’ Report found manufacturers should improve safety in their warehouses.
To remove the dangerous, and dull, parts of these unfulfilled warehouse jobs, many brands are now turning to cubic storage systems to accelerate product storage and retrievals.
AutoStore is the most widely adopted automated fulfilment system in the world and serves over 1,000 unique customers globally.
It expects to double its manufacturing capacity within the first year of the factory opening.
Mats Hovland Vikse, AutoStore’s CEO, says "Since 2012, our robots have been manufactured and shipped exclusively from Poland.
“With increased demand in our automated fulfilment system across North America and worldwide, it’s become imperative that we open a second robot factory to better serve current and future customers," he continues.
"The workforce availability, proximity to harbours and airports, favourable labour costs, and government incentives for automation companies made Thailand an ideal location for our second robot factory to power AutoStore’s North American operations."
Robots are already increasing capacity
AutoStore already has 232 systems and 17,000 robots in operation in the US alone to meet the rising demands of its clients’ e-commerce operations.
Replacing shelf-based storage and manual retrieval, AutoStore instead employs its state-of-the-art robots to operate a cube-based modular storage system.
This creates a solution that accelerates order fulfilment, maximises warehouse space and improves operational efficiency for its customers.
“In the last 24 months, we have tripled our existing capacity and we put in place a structure to go 10x in another 24 months if needed," says Israel Losada Salvador, COO at AutoStore.
"With our expansion into Thailand, we have not only increased capacity but also established a more diversified supplier base.
“AutoStore’s lead times have gone from 34 weeks to 20 weeks,” he concludes.
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