ow, reducing the need for workers to travel between pick locations. This not only enhances productivity but also boosts order accuracy, enabling faster and more reliable order ful llment. STORING AND RETRIEVING WITH LIGHTNING SPEED Offering high-throughput ful llment, the AutoStore warehouse automation system offers a cube storage solution to maximize warehouse footprints. AutoStore customers include 3PLs, retailers, manufacturers, automakers, and ecommerce brands. Intralogistics solutions provider Kardex recently completed its 100th AutoStore project—in less than ve years. Kardex has seen rapid growth since 2021: from the rst project for one of Germany’s leading ecommerce players Arbeitsschutz-Express, to site number 100 recently ordered by Rhenus Group. Including extensions of existing systems, its total stands at 120 projects around the globe, with AutoStore systems deployed by Kardex at sites across the United States, including those in Kentucky, Las Vegas, Seattle, Ohio, Houston, Detroit, Illinois, New Jersey, and Mississippi. SENSOR MAKER INSTALLS CUSTOMIZED SYSTEM Balluff, Inc., a manufacturer of sensor, identi cation, network, and software solutions, aimed to optimize put-away and picking throughput at its Kentucky facility. Seeking an ASRS to enhance its inventory storage and retrieval process, Balluff partnered with Kardex to deploy a customized AutoStore solution designed to meet current operational demands and future growth for the Americas region. Kardex was able to take the project from contract signing to go-live in 6 months, coming in on time and under budget. It required no major facility upgrades. The resulting system optimizes space ef ciency and process speed, delivering a 177% increase in throughput.
Amer Sports deploys Exotec’s Skypod system
to design and integrate a cutting-edge warehouse in Canada to streamline processes, boost order accuracy, improve work ef ciency, and enhance experience for the company’s North American customers. Bastian Solutions, a Toyota Automated Logistics company, collaborated with Exotec, a global warehouse robotics provider, to develop Amer Sports’ order ful llment operations. As an integrator of the Exotec technology in the North
American market, Bastian Solutions leveraged Exotec’s Skypod system, an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) with the ability to handle both each and case picking. The expansion allows for the facility to consolidate operations under one roof and expand the team to meet growing demand, accelerating order processing and optimizing storage capacity. Exotec’s automation technology leverages autonomous robots to optimize order
Retailers and 3PLs Drive AMR Market
“While small customers remain, most AMR (autonomous mobile robot) volume now comes from major retailers and 3PLs, which deploy hundreds of robots per site and thousands across networks. Their requirements and procurement processes differ significantly from early adopters, demanding a fundamentally different approach to achieve scale.” ASH SHARMA , VP of research at market intelligence company Interact Analysis Exotec AMR
162 Inbound Logistics • January 2026
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