AutoStore sets up Innovation Hub to carry out realistic tests
The testing facility is designed to allow clients to fit automated systems faster and keep up with demand.
The test centre located in Karmøy, Norway, can replicate hot and cold weather conditions as well as simulate earthquakes.
Constructed in seven months, the facility is fitted with a combination of robotic technology and infrastructure for supply chain and retail facilities. This will test the solutions which are developed for global retailers and their store and warehouse facilities.
The facility’s environment can also be adjusted to allow the robots to be tested in both hot and cold conditions, analysing how the oxygen level changes when goods are stacked within storage systems. The Hub also simulates earthquakes to see how warehouse and store technology would respond to potentially harmful situations, as well as a number of other functions.
AutoStore CEO Karl Johan Lier said: “As a technology company, we must identify needs, and together with our partners and customers develop good solutions that can work immediately. We live in a time of exponential development in most areas, and then we must be able to develop solutions that are not outdated when they are used.”
Lier believes the Innovation Hub will play an important role in demonstrating solutions for the promising, but as yet largely unproven, Micro-Fulfillment sector.
“The needs will vary from store to store, and industry to industry. Our flexibility must enable the brands to streamline operations in line with their specific needs, and to achieve this we must constantly test and develop new solutions. Here, the AutoStore Innovation hub will play an important role.”
The hub has not been developed in response to Covid specifically, but it will allow AutoStore to help clients quickly and efficiently respond to how Covid has impacted supply chains and elevated the level of demand on some businesses, particularly in eCommerce.
For more information, visit www.autostoresystem.com
