3PL to trial warehouse robot system

DK Fulfilment is to trial a fleet of Intelligent Robots’ RPUCK autonomous mobile conveyor robots at its Coventry site, starting in June.

With RPUCK workers pick orders directly on to a trolley within a designated picking zone and, once a trolley is full, a robot delivers an empty trolley to the picker and takes the full load directly to the packing and dispatch area of the store.

RPUCK technology is simple to install and requires no laser or magnetic guidance methods.

The trial is being funded with support from an Innovate UK grant.

Mark Elward, managing director of DK Fulfilment, said: “Third party logistics warehouses have traditionally been manually driven, but with the growth in online retail and the well-documented warehouse labour shortages, more and more 3PLs simply must consider automation as a way of improving operational efficiency, so we are delighted to be working with Intelligent Robots on this exciting trial.”