How ABB's Robot System Improved Nespresso Order Accuracy

Nespresso, the Swiss coffee brand known for direct-to-consumer delivery, is turning to automation to improve how its Benelux customers receive their orders.

The company wants to maintain its reputation for quality service as demand increases. To achieve that, it needed a more efficient and accurate system to process a wide range of complex orders.

Working through logistics provider ID Logistics (IDL), Nespresso has now implemented a full automation solution from ABB.

Installed at the IDL-run distribution centre in Tilburg, Netherlands, the setup includes robotic depalletising, high-speed picking and order packing, backed by 24/7 technical support and intelligent software control.

“With Nespresso seeing continued growth in demand for its products, the company was keen to see how an automated order handling could help,” explains Dominic Maas, Site Manager at IDL.

Previously, IDL staff manually picked and packed coffee sleeve orders. As volumes grew, this approach struggled to keep pace.

The new system, designed by ABB, improves accuracy to 99.9% and increases productivity by 200%, enabling up to 625 orders per hour.

How the system works

ABB's system works in two coordinated stages: first, depalletising boxes of coffee sleeves, then picking individual sleeves to build customer orders.

The process starts with ABB's IRB660 robot, which handles depalletising. It pulls required boxes from any of 40 pallet locations and moves them to a conveyor. From there, the boxes are opened automatically, exposing the coffee sleeves.

Next, ABB’s FlexPicker IRB 360 robots take over. Four of these delta robots handle the high-speed picking phase. Each one has access to 10 coffee sleeve variants and can make up to 150 picks per minute. They are capable of picking up to five sleeves at once and placing them directly into customer order carts on a moving line.

Each cart then moves to a packing station. There, an operator is instructed on which box size to use. Coffee sleeves are automatically pushed into the box, and the operator manually adds any accessories like chocolates, seals the box and applies the label.

This entire process is governed by ABB's material management software. The system sits below Nespresso’s warehouse management system and manages both product flow and data flow. It includes a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system for visualising key performance indicators and assisting operators in real-time.

“We chose the ABB system as it had the most innovative and convincing design to meet the project requirements,” adds Dominic.

“One thing that stands out is the pick and place mechanism while the conveyor is running. The ABB’s FlexPicker can pick one sleeve or multiple sleeves from the box and place them in the moving cart.”

Increased output and full visibility

The result is an agile operation that maintains quality at scale.

With automated checks and faster handling, errors are reduced. Customer complaints and rejections now stand at just 0.06% of orders. The system’s flexibility means it can adapt to changing order volumes without requiring changes to packaging—existing boxes and pallets are still used.

Operators benefit from an intuitive interface that alerts them to faults and suggests how to resolve them. The robot interface includes visual maps of system activity, improving response times to minor issues.

“We have been delighted with the system, which is increasing our agility and our ability to fulfil customer orders more efficiently with less errors,” says Sorin Geambasu, Global Warehouse Efficiency Manager at Nespresso.

Support doesn’t stop after installation as ABB trains IDL staff on how to make minor adjustments and offers remote and on-site technical assistance around the clock.

Nespresso and IDL are now considering similar systems for other sites. The Tilburg facility marks their first use of such automation technology and its impact on service levels and output sets a clear model.

“This is the first time that such an innovative automated solution has been implemented for Nespresso,” concludes Sorin.

“We are always reviewing ways to improve customer satisfaction and automation has proven itself as a way of achieving this.

"We are now looking at how we can implement this type of solution in other facilities to better serve our customers in the future.”