Rhenus Hong Kong partners with Geek+ to develop its first AMR warehouse in Asia+

Rhenus Geek+ team signs deal for Hong Kong Partnership
Rhenus has over 830 sites worldwide. | Image credit: Rhenus Group

Geek+ together with Rhenus Hong Kong are proud to announce the successful deployment of the first AMR-operated Rhenus warehouse in Asia.

The Rhenus Group is a global company focused on logistics solutions. The company has an annual turnover of $6.11 billion (€5.4 billion). The company employs 33,500 employees at 820 sites worldwide. Rhenus Hong Kong is just one division of the organization.

Challenge

The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt on global supply chain operations, with the disruption of the labor market having exacerbated labor shortages. The innovation-focused, solutions-oriented logistics provider Rhenus Hong Kong will adopt Geek+’s advanced robotics and AI technologies in a proof-of-concept warehousing project in the country. This is the latest Rhenus initiative in the region and is part of its ongoing strategy to deepen its focus on IT-driven digitization by tapping into smart logistics to build a sustainable and robust supply chain.

Since 2019, Rhenus has been making strategic tech-driven investments in Greater China, especially across its warehousing business division, including automated solutions to improve the efficiency of its warehouses and operational processes. With the Geek+ solution, Rhenus Hong Kong can handle large volumes of orders, flexibly meet rapidly changing SKUs, and improve order-fulfillment performance. The Hong Kong site will be the first smart Rhenus warehouse in the Asia-Pacific.

Solution

Cliff Xu, CEO of Rhenus Air & Ocean Greater China, said: “Our goal is to provide the best and most innovative logistics service to achieve faster and more flexible movement of goods, to cater to the rapid growth in e-commerce. By working closely with Geek+, we not only realize warehouse digitization, but also improve operational efficiency and accuracy, translating to greater cost-savings for customers in the long run.”

The Rhenus Hong Kong warehouse will use Geek+ goods-to-person solutions. Robots will be used as part of the system to automatically bring goods to the operators, achieving 99.99 percent accuracy. The solution also helps maximize warehouse storage as aisle space is minimized.

Results

One of the features of the AI-driven system are Geek+’s proprietary algorithms. They optimize order combinations and adjust the inventory layouts in real time, maximizing efficiency. In the Rhenus Hong Kong warehouse, over 2,000 SKUs of cosmetic products are constantly (re)arranged in the warehouse according to popularity and expiry date. This optimizes the picking workflow by shortening the movement of the Geek+ robots.

Lit Fung, VP, Managing Director APAC, UK and Americas at Geek+, said: “We believe that the smart warehouse upgrade is the only answer to the rapid growth of e-commerce business and growing customer expectations. We will continue to support Rhenus with tailored solutions that best fit their multi-customer business.”

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Written by

Mike Oitzman

Mike Oitzman is Senior Editor of WTWH's Robotics Group, cohost of The Robot Report Podcast, and founder of the Mobile Robot Guide. Oitzman is a robotics industry veteran with 25-plus years of experience at various high-tech companies in the roles of marketing, sales and product management. He can be reached at moitzman@wtwhmedia.com.