Geodis to build $52 million retail DC with Knapp technology
Facility designed to strike balance between rising e-commerce and scarce labor.
Third-party logistics specialist Geodis will build a $52 million automated order fulfillment system for an unnamed specialty retailer client using several technologies from logistics solutions provider Knapp, the companies said today.
Geodis said the new system will let it enhance the specialty retailer’s existing fulfillment facility by leveraging a new design and innovative technology to meet rapidly increasing e-commerce demand.
Planned to begin operations in August 2022, the system will include five mirrored order picking modules with a total capacity of moving some 850,000 e-commerce units per day.
Specifically, the site will feature 10 aisles of Knapp’s automatic storage and picking system OSR Shuttle Evo, 20 double Fastbox order sequencing towers, which are fast storage and buffer towers with integrated lift systems, and 40 high-performance Pick-it-Easy work stations, as well as automated shipping carton erectors and height-reducing carton closers.
“The solution developed in collaboration with Geodis and Knapp engineers is specifically designed to address key strategic and growth factors resulting from the rapid growth in e-commerce demand,” Jusuf Buzimkic, Knapp’s chief sales officer, said in a release. “The technology platform will reduce the challenge of hard-to-find labor, while simultaneously delivering a solution that is flexible, scalable and minimizes the variable cost per order.”
The deal follows another large project announced this month by Knapp to expand the capacity of an Ohio DC for grocery retailer The Kroger Co.
Geodis has also been increasingly turning to robotics and automation to manage rising e-commerce demand amid labor shortages, including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and remote-controlled forklifts.