Seven o'clock in the morning at the Haldensleben dispatch center. At this time of day, the incoming goods department is a hive of activity. Numerous swap bodies and sea freight containers arrive there every day. They are loaded with T-shirts, pullovers, blouses, shirts, pants, shoes - in other words, everything you can order from bonprix and OTTO. On peak days, up to 40,000 boxes of new goods are delivered, unloaded and stored - a strenuous job that requires a lot of muscle power and full concentration. Since the beginning of August, the employees in incoming goods have had a new "colleague" to actively support them: "Stretch" is his name, he weighs 1,300 kilograms and is an AI-supported robot. Its job is to pick up boxes, place them on the conveyor belt and thus relieve the employees.
Last year, the Otto Group entered into a strategic partnership with Boston Dynamics, one of the world's leading robotics providers. Among other things, it provides for the use of Stretch at several of the Group's logistics locations. In this context, the Otto Group is now integrating Europe's first Stretch into its logistics processes. Haldensleben in Saxony-Anhalt was chosen because the shipping center there has been the heart of logistics for the Otto Group for 30 years. The location specializes in the logistics handling of the small-volume product range. This primarily includes clothing and shoes.
The hub for the Otto Group's e-commerce
The Group's logistics service provider Hermes Fulfilment uses state-of-the-art technology to store goods, pack parcels and bags with items ordered online, handle Europe-wide shipping and store goods that are returned if they are not suitable. Up to 300,000 shipments leave the site every day. The dispatch center is one of the largest in Europe and has become the hub of the Otto Group's e-commerce activities.
To keep it that way, investments have recently been made primarily in digitalization and the use of AI-supported technologies. Stretch is a mobile, autonomous robot. It can handle cartons of different sizes weighing up to 23 kilograms. The unloading rate per hour is around 500 packages, also known as "Kolli" in logistics.
Sophisticated interaction of cameras and sensors
Put simply, Stretch consists of a robot arm with a gripping tool and a swivel-mounted "perception mast". Both elements are mounted on a movable platform measuring approximately one square meter. Various cameras and sensors are installed in the "perception mast". They enable the robot to take a 360-degree view of its surroundings, orient itself and precisely recognize objects. "The special feature is the sophisticated interaction of cameras and sensors," explains Tomek Pauer. The project manager in Supply Chain Management at the Otto Group has been in charge of the strategic partnership for two years and is responsible for the introduction of the new technology as program manager. The differentiated system for environmental perception works closely with the robot arm. It has seven axes and a reach of up to 3.2 meters vertically and almost two meters horizontally. At its end is a swiveling vacuum gripper with 50 suction cups arranged in a rectangular pattern.
Thanks to the pneumatic control and sensors, Stretch can recognize a wide range of carton types and sizes and, thanks to the mobility of the tool, can grip from different angles. Even cartons that slip or fall during unloading pose no problem: "Depending on the position of the carton, the robot decides independently whether to pick up the fallen package first or continue the unloading process in the container," reports Tomek. If boxes block the path, Stretch navigates around them. No complex programming is required before use. "The robot has to be configured once, for example by familiarizing it with the gates and the installed equipment. The rest is done by the learned algorithm, which the robot uses when unloading," explains Tomek.
In the pilot phase, Stretch will initially be used at a gate in the incoming goods area of the Haldensleben dispatch center. Structural changes were necessary for this. The loading ramp had to be hydraulically reinforced so that the 1.3-ton robot could drive into the container to unload the cartons. Additional scanners were also installed on the conveyor system in the incoming goods area. For example, they check the cartons deposited by Stretch from six sides for damage. If a package is torn or dented, it is automatically ejected in the incoming goods area before it is transported to the high-bay warehouse via conveyor belts. The high-bay warehouse is the heart of the dispatch center: Up to 1.2 million cartons of goods are stored there. If all the parcels were placed one behind the other, they would cover a distance of around 600 kilometers. That is roughly the distance between Hamburg and Munich as the crow flies.
Innovative approaches in day-to-day work
Because the packages are heavy, unloading is one of the hardest jobs in the dispatch center. In addition, the containers and swap bodies can heat up in summer, but it can also get very cold in the boxes in winter. Stretch is intended to relieve the strain on employees in the incoming goods department from now on. The robot will improve working conditions by relieving employees of some of the heavy physical work. In future, they will be able to take on more complex, value-adding tasks in the dispatch center. By investing in AI-based robotic solutions, it is once again clear that the Otto Group is actively positioning itself for the future.
In order to meet the growing demands of online retail and continuously improve service, the Otto Group relies on strong interaction between people and technology. There is hardly any fear of contact among the workforce. On the contrary: the employees' curiosity and anticipation of being relieved by their new "colleague" is great. "The combination of human expertise and technological innovation is an important building block in meeting the growing demands of the market and further improving service for our customers," emphasizes Kay Schiebur, the Otto Group Executive Board member responsible for Service.
Stretch not only reduces the workload for employees and optimizes the working environment, but also improves the efficiency of logistics processes. The fact that the robot's performance is reliably available over a long period of time increases the ability to plan, especially in phases with a high order volume - such as Black Friday or Christmas sales - and increases the availability of goods in the dispatch center. The use of robots therefore also contributes to an improved shopping experience.
Following the successful completion of the pilot phase at the Haldensleben distribution center, initially with one stretch robot and four more in the coming months, the Otto Group plans to roll out the robotics solution to other locations in its logistics network. In addition, further use cases are being worked on as part of joint research and development, such as palletizing or loading containers.
Long-term, scalable technology solutions
Stretch and its first use in a distribution center in Europe is an example of how the Otto Group is actively shaping the future of logistics on an ongoing basis. "The Otto Group is actively shaping the future of logistics. With the introduction of AI robotics, the opening of the innovative shuttle warehouse in Altenkunstadt and the new European lighthouse in fulfilment, the logistics center in Ilowa, we are keeping up a high pace and investing a mid three-digit million amount in improving the customer experience," emphasizes Kay Schiebur. "Investments in technology are not a short-term trend, but part of a long-term strategy to create scalable processes that go far beyond individual use cases."
