Dynamic, scalable solution for modern warehouse automation

Toyota Material Handling Europe’s automated warehouse transport system combines the Toyota SAI125CB Automated Counterbalance Stacker with T-ONE Control System, intelligent automation software. Swarm Automation Transport easily fits into any major warehouse flow, supporting various warehouse activities and seamlessly integrates into any complex warehouse environment. This holistic solution is particularly valuable for businesses handling multiple pallet types, like euro pallets or bottom-deck pallets, or requiring specific handling procedures such as turned pallet loading.

In support of warehouse efficiency, this new dynamic solution can be deployed for fully automated performance, engineered to operate in sync with other AGVs including Toyota’s automated reach trucks. For businesses combining automation with manual handling, the system supports a hybrid, semi-automated functionality, optimising productivity through effortless coordination with conventional warehouse trucks.

This solution is perfectly suited to a wide range of industries, including warehouse logistics, industrial production and manufacturing, retail distribution and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), food retail, as well as other dynamic sectors such as parcel delivery, airport operations and e-commerce.

Transport and storage for conventional racking

Swarm Automation Transport offers a practical and cost-effective solution for businesses looking to start their automation journey. Ideal for stacking near conveyors or cells, this solution can also benefit existing automation users who aim to maximise their ROI, as it integrates easily with different fleet types. Pallet storage can be done up to 5 m in height, with a maximum of 12 m when paired with other Toyota automated reach trucks.

“Swarm Automation Transport marks a major step in our mission to make automation accessible to every warehouse,” says José Maria Gener, Vice President Sales & Marketing at Toyota Material Handling Europe, “By combining the strength of our automated counterbalanced stacker with the intelligence of our automation software T-ONE, we’re giving customers a scalable solution that elevates safety, efficiency and performance across their entire operation.”

Further reinforcing its commitment to responsible design, Toyota Material Handling equips its latest solution with high-efficiency lithium-ion batteries and automatic charging capabilities. The result is reduced overall energy consumption, smooth recharging and longer usage cycles. The 360° Personal Protection System integrates sensors, scanners and bumpers for an overall safer experience.

Automation at every level

Swarm Automation Transport is highly beneficial for generating streamlined fully automated and semi-automated workflows. It is also perfect for managing repetitive transport tasks, pallet handling in buffer areas and for optimising replenishment processes.

Their latest automated solution represents Toyota Material Handling Europe’s continued commitment to developing technologies that elevate safety, efficiency and scalability across every layer of the supply chain.

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What was once a fragmented, labour-intensive ecosystem is now evolving into a more integrated, technology-driven network. This shift is being driven by rising demand for speed, precision, and scalability in a consumption-led economy. Automation is no longer a future ambition it is becoming central to operational strategy, enabling logistics players to enhance efficiency while responding to increasingly complex supply chain requirements.

A key manifestation of this transformation is the rise of automated warehousing. Advanced systems such as robotics, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), and AI-led inventory management are redefining warehouse operations. These technologies are significantly improving picking accuracy, reducing turn around times, and optimizing space utilization critical advantages in a market where real estate costs are steadily increasing. More importantly, automation is enabling consistent, high-volume throughput, allowing companies to scale operations without a proportional increase in manpower.

Beyond warehousing, intelligent automation is streamlining end-to-end logistics operations. Technologies such as Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and drone-enabled inventory tracking are minimizing human intervention, reducing errors, and enabling round-the-clock operations. This transition is not merely about cost efficiency; it is about building resilience, agility, and reliability into supply chains. As India positions itself as a global manufacturing and consumption hub, automation will play a defining role in creating a logistics ecosystem that is faster, smarter, and globally competitive.

E-commerce: Catalysing Tech Revolution of India’s Logistics

The explosive growth of e-commerce is perhaps the single largest driver of this technological pivot. As platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and quick-commerce disruptors like Zepto and Blinkit redefine consumer expectations, the ‘need for speed’ has become absolute. The Indian warehouse automation market is witnessing a massive surge as players race to trim minutes off their delivery timelines.

To handle millions of stock-keeping units (SKUs) and ensure ‘same-day’ or ‘ten-minute’ deliveries, logistics providers are investing heavily in automated sortation systems and AI-driven demand forecasting. Automation allows these companies to handle seasonal spikes, such as during festive sales, without the logistical nightmare of massive, temporary manual hiring. In this hyper-competitive landscape, the efficiency of a company’s automated backend is directly linked to its customer retention rate.

Building Smart Infrastructure

The transformation is not limited to private enterprises; it is being etched into the very geography of the country. India is seeing the birth of ‘Smart Logistics Parks’, designed to be hubs of interconnected technology. A landmark example is the development of the country’s first smart logistics park in Nagpur by XSIO.

These parks integrate Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, GPS tracking, and automated gate management to create a seamless flow of goods. By situating these high-tech hubs at strategic multimodal locations, India is reducing the logistics cost as a percentage of GDP, which has erstwhile been higher than in developed nations. These smart clusters ensure that once a package is sent out from an automated warehouse, it stays within a digitally tracked, high-efficiency ecosystem until it reaches the end consumer.

A Future-Ready Supply Chain

The integration of robotics, AI, and smart infrastructure is doing more than just moving boxes faster; it is providing end-to-end supply chain visibility. For businesses, this means better data, fewer losses, and leaner operations. For the Indian economy, it signals a transition from a labour-intensive sector to a technology-driven powerhouse.

As automation continues to mature, the challenges of the ‘last mile’ will diminish, and the reliability of Indian exports will rise. By modernising its logistics domain through automation, India is not just catching up with global standards but is building a future-ready infrastructure capable of supporting the world’s fastest-growing economy. The shift from manual to mechanical is well underway, ensuring that the future of Indian logistics is fast, fluid, and flawlessly automated.

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After more than two decades of pioneering cube storage automation, AutoStore is now moving beyond automation alone toward intelligent fulfillment systems that continuously sense, decide, and improve in real time. The announcement reflects a shift in the market from asset-centric automation to decision-centric fulfillment, as companies look to connect machines, software, data, and people into more intelligent, coordinated operations. With CubeVerse and AutoStore Intelligence, AutoStore enables better, faster decisions across design, deployment, operations, and optimization—working alongside existing WMS and WES solutions rather than replacing them.

For customers, this means unlocking hidden capacity in existing systems, simplifying operations, and accelerating the path to fully autonomous fulfillment, powered by learnings continuously drawn from AutoStore’s global community of thousands of live systems, enabling improvements that compound across the installed base.

“Fulfillment is becoming a real-time, intelligence-driven discipline. If systems can’t sense, decide, and adapt continuously, everything upstream breaks,” said Parth Joshi, Chief Product Officer at AutoStore. “With the launch of the CubeVerse platform and our AI-driven capabilities, we’re bringing intelligence across the entire lifecycle — from design to daily operations to advanced analytics to optimizations. This is a major first step in our AI strategy and reinforces our focus on innovation as the market leader in automated fulfillment.”

The Spring 2026 product announcement introduces a new CubeVerse cloud platform, designed to unify data, applications, and AI capabilities across the fulfillment lifecycle, alongside AI-powered software and analytics, and expanded automation capabilities. Together, these capabilities lower total cost of ownership, improve performance and predictability, reduce operational complexity, and support longer operating hours, including full 24/7 operation.

After a decade of rapid investment in warehouse automation, the industry is facing a new challenge:
seventy-five percent of companies say synchronizing their supply chain is difficult as logistics networks grow more complex. The question is no longer just how to automate, but how to coordinate machines, software, data, and people into systems that make better decisions and run reliably around the clock.
CubeVerse and AutoStore Intelligence provide the data, simulation, and analytics capabilities that enable this shift — helping customers orchestrate fulfillment decisions across the system lifecycle without replacing existing orchestration or control layers.

The Spring 2026 Product Portfolio

Built on the CubeVerse platform, this Spring’s announcements span the fulfillment lifecycle—from system design and AI-driven optimization to autonomous order preparation.

CubeVerse Platform
CubeVerse provides a single platform to design, deploy, and run AutoStore systems. It spans the full system lifecycle—from design and simulation to deployment, operations, analytics, and optimization.
CubeVerse simplifies integrations, keeps operations consistent across sites, and helps customers avoid overbuilding and keep costs under control.

AutoStore Intelligence
AutoStore Intelligence applies built-in AI to real operational data across the platform to orchestrate fulfillment in real time. It optimizes robot movement through CubeControl, reduces congestion, and clears traffic bottlenecks to deliver significantly higher throughput during peak periods, with
performance continuously improving over time, without requiring additional robots or grid
expansion. Embedded across CubeVerse, AutoStore Intelligence uses 20+ proprietary models to predict issues, optimize operations, and deliver measurable performance improvements across the automation lifecycle.

CubeAnalytics
CubeAnalytics, powered by AutoStore Intelligence, turns system data into clear, real-time insights and recommended actions. It helps teams identify issues earlier, reduce downtime, and rely less on specialized in-house expertise. With built-in AI, CubeAnalytics automatically surfaces key issues and patterns, evolving from reporting into an intelligent system that recommends action automatically.

CubeControl
CubeControl, powered by AutoStore Intelligence, uses AI to personalize routing parameters and create optimized robot highways for large, robot-dense grids. This improves traffic flow, reduces congestion, and boosts overall system throughput without additional hardware.

VersaAI
VersaAI delivers robotic piece picking powered by vision and AI, expanding AutoStore’s automation portfolio into autonomous order preparation. The system automates order preparation, consolidation, and staging, improving overall AutoStore utilization. It enables operations to run longer hours with consistent throughput and lower cost per order. This supports 24/7 operations without sacrificing performance.

CubeStudio
First major application added to the CubeVerse platform, CubeStudio is a shared, cloud-based environment for system design, simulation, and validation, enabling AutoStore and partners to make data-led decisions together. It serves as an early proof point of AutoStore’s modern app strategy powered by CubeVerse.

Cube Enhancements
New workstation layouts and expanded bin and case support give customers more flexibility as volumes, SKUs, and workflows change, without requiring grid rebuilds. Enhancements based on partner and customer feedback include expanded case support in AutoCase, simplified WMS integration through VersaPort, and upgraded industrial PCs for large, high-performance systems.

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In Großzöberitz, Saxony-Anhalt, door and gate manufacturer Teckentrup produces steel doors and frames on one of Europe’s longest production lines. Around 1,500 to 2,000 doors roll off the production line every week. This requires a logistical masterpiece every single day. A total of 30 Clark electric forklifts, which prove their worth in all areas of the factory, make a significant contribution to this. The Clark fleet is a prime example of how emission-free, low-maintenance handling can be successfully implemented in industrial door production.

Teckentrup GmbH & Co. KG, headquartered in Westphalia and with production facilities in Saxony-Anhalt, is one of the largest manufacturers of doors and gates in Europe. As an expert in customised door and gate solutions, Teckentrup offers high-quality, customer-focused products in the home (garage doors), professional (functional doors) and industrial (industrial doors) sectors. The company works with its partners to develop tailor-made solutions and enjoys both national and international success.

Industrial customers

Teckentrup currently has a high vertical range of manufacture of 90 per cent. With around 900 employees and a network of European subsidiaries and partners, the company has extensive market knowledge and develops doors that are precisely tailored to country-specific requirements. The focus is on the development and production of high-quality industrial doors and functional sheet steel doors, which are specially manufactured for use in fire, sound, burglary and smoke protection. Requirements have increased significantly in recent years due to stricter regulations and an increased need for security.

“As a medium-sized, owner-managed company, we are flexible, provide individual customer service and meet high requirements,” explains Peter Handrich, Head of Supply Chain Management at Teckentrup in Großzöberitz. “We are the market leader in terms of approval depth and technical specifications, especially when it comes to safety issues such as fire protection or special constructions.”

Digitalisation plays an important role in accelerating and streamlining work processes. “Teckentrup is driving forward digital solutions in all areas of the company, with a focus on sales and production,” explains Handrich. “Our online configurator TEO, for example, allows doors and gates to be configured quickly and in a user-friendly manner in accordance with standards, and construction projects to be planned efficiently,” he adds. “A new import function makes it possible to read, analyse and process service specifications at the touch of a button.”

High demands on functional doors

In Zörbig Teckentrup operates a factory built in 1990 and continuously modernised and expanded to produce steel doors – in particular fire doors, tubular frame doors, roller shutters and frames. “Here, industrial doors are manufactured largely automatically in two shifts,” explains Handrich. “Due to rising production figures of around 100,000 doors and 5,000 roller shutters per year, the capacity in the powder coating area at the Großzöberitz plant was expanded in 2023 with a new system and the manufacturing processes were restructured.”

Teckentrup is currently planning two new production lines for frames and a new mat hall for the manufacture of fire doors. Sustainability plays a major role: the roof of the production hall in Großzöberitz is equipped with a PV system with a total capacity of 1000 kWp for generating the company’s own electricity. When the decision was made to purchase new industrial trucks, it was clear that only environmentally friendly electric forklifts would be considered.

Sustainability and safety in the truck fleet

“We tested several competing vehicles, but I liked Clark’s ‘green’ one best and it won us over – not because of the colour,” laughs Handrich, “but because of its good performance data and high user-friendliness.” The close cooperation with Clark’s partner P&H Gabelstapler und Baumaschinen was also a decisive factor. “P&H had already provided us with good advice and support with the Clark gas forklifts,” says Handrich. Marcel Krämer, Head of Maintenance, can only agree: “The Clark forklifts and P&H have become indispensable in our factory.”

Currently, 30 Clark electric forklifts are in use in Großzöberitz – including 27 GEX 20-30 electric forklifts with a load capacity of 2 and 3 tonnes and one GEX 50 electric forklift with a load capacity of 5 tonnes and a special triplex mast with a lifting height of 8.50 metres. The vehicle is mainly used for maintenance work, for example on the PV system. Two new Clark SE20 (48 volt) and SE30 (80 volt) electric forklifts were recently purchased. With a load capacity of 2 and 3 tonnes, these forklifts offer the perfect combination of ergonomics, safety and high handling performance. The compact forklifts are very manoeuvrable and ideal for indoor and outdoor use. With a steering angle of 101° (zero steer turn axle), they prove particularly useful in narrow aisles or space-critical work areas, as they can turn almost on the spot.

Occupational health and safety are high priorities at Teckentrup. Management also listens to its employees. “Our forklift drivers should feel comfortable on their forklifts, because good ergonomics increase productivity,” says Peter Handrich. It was therefore important that the electric forklifts had an ergonomic driver’s seat and intuitive controls. Restraint systems from IWS provide additional safety. The IWS ‘Pilot Protector’ restraint system consists of gas-pressure-sprung swing doors that protect the driver in the event of the vehicle tipping over sideways.

Lead-acid instead of lithium-ion batteries

All Clark electric forklifts are equipped with lead-acid batteries. Teckentrup made a conscious decision against lithium-ion technology. “The use of Li-ion batteries is not cost-effective in our factory,” explains Krämer. “We have the time to charge batteries because our logistics operate on a single shift basis.” The site uses high-frequency charging technology so that vehicles are quickly ready for use when needed. “We have the space for the charging infrastructure. Lead-acid batteries have a long service life – often well over ten years – even with around 1,000 operating hours per year in single-shift operation,” adds Krämer.

Tailored to the task

Clark forklifts are used in all areas of the plant, from goods receipt and dispatch to truck loading and unloading. They distribute goods within the plant and supply the production lines with materials. Raw materials are delivered on coils or pallets and transported to the relevant consumption points. Larger coils are moved by crane; smaller coils and palletised goods are transported to their destination by forklift. The hydraulic fork adjustment ensures that the forks of the forklift can be adjusted from pallet to coil transport.

The material for current production is kept ready to hand at the workstations. Clark forklifts also ensure that supplies are replenished. The lead time from ordering a door solution to delivery is approximately 4-5 weeks for standard solutions. The finished doors are stored in a cantilever trolley in the warehouse or transported by forklift to the shipping department, where they are packaged. The forklifts responsible for picking the goods are equipped with a tablet so that picking can be carried out paperless via the merchandise management system.

“Our goal at our plant in Großzöberitz is to make industrial door and gate production as efficient and sustainable as possible – from resource-saving production and in-house power generation to emission-free and smooth logistics processes. Our partner Clark also makes an important contribution to this,” concludes Handrich.

The post Wheels for Steel appeared first on Logistics Business.

“I am glad that we now have signed an agreement with Witron for automation in the logistics centre that we will establish. This solution will give us a more flexible, efficient and sustainable logistics chain for product supply to our stores in the southern parts of Sweden, thereby strengthening the entire Axfood family’s competitiveness,” comments Simone Margulies, President and CEO of Axfood.

Logical next step

“It feels very good to have the agreement in place for this strategically important automation solution. With the experience we have built together with Witron in Bålsta, we know that this technology will give us the right conditions going forward, and as a natural step, we feel confident in continuing this journey also in southern Sweden. This investment is fundamental in strengthening Dagab’s and Axfood’s future logistics structure, and for continuing to deliver on our ambition of market-leading efficiency,” says Hans Bax, Managing Director of Dagab.

High level of automation across all temperature zones

In Kungsbacka, products will be stored and picked across three temperature zones: ambient goods (+18 °C), fresh goods (+2 °C), and frozen items (-26 °C). As in Bålsta, the solution relies on standardized Witron logistics modules, including Order Picking Machinery (OPM with a total of 37 COMs), All-in-One (AIO), the Car Picking System (CPS), and a fully automated shipping buffer. Within this shipping buffer, store-friendly picked and consolidated order pallets are buffered and provided just-in-time on heavy-duty lanes, sequenced by delivery route for efficient truck loading. In addition, the Goods-to-Person (GTP) solution enables ergonomic semi-automated picking operations in the frozen food area.

High-performance warehouse management system

The overall material flow includes more than 500,000 storage locations for wooden and plastic pallets, roll containers, totes, and refrigerated containers, 111 stacker cranes, as well as 16+ kilometers of conveyor technology. All processes are controlled by a multifunctional warehouse management system with open interfaces from the WMS to the customer’s supplier systems, route scheduling systems, and sales systems. This enables a high level of end-to-end optimization across Axfood’s entire internal and external supply chain. A Witron OnSite service team of more than 60 employees ensures consistently high system availability in multi-shift operation around the clock – 365 days a year.

Successful omnichannel project

Both companies can reflect positively on a jointly and successfully implemented project. Since early 2025, following a phased ramp-up, one of the most innovative logistics centres in the retail industry has been operating at full capacity in Bålsta, around 40 kilometers northwest of Stockholm. Axfood and Witron designed and realized a cutting-edge omnichannel distribution centre that supplies stores as well as end customers via click + collect and home delivery. The highly automated system handles a product range of 22,000+ dry, fresh, and frozen items.

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The project targets one of the most sensitive points in fashion logistics: final order validation after picking and just before shipment to wholesale customers and retail networks. While picking operations were already supported by pick‑to‑light systems, final verification still relied heavily on manual checks, making it difficult to detect discrepancies before shipments left the facility.

In the U.S. fashion industry, these discrepancies carry a direct financial impact. Chargebacks caused by missing or excess items are among the most common penalties imposed by retailers, often reaching up to 20% of the invoice value and resulting in losses that can amount to tens of thousands of dollars per shipment.

To eliminate this risk, Perry Ellis implemented high-density RFID tunnels fully integrated into its existing conveyor lines. The solution automatically validates the contents of each open box after picking, comparing in real time the items detected by RFID with the expected order data.

The system combines Clustag MOT Station RFID tunnels, capable of processing up to 1,000 boxes per hour and reading up to 600 items per box, with Cognex barcode readers for box identification. Interroll automated rejection lines that divert non compliant shipments without interrupting operational flow.

The entire process is orchestrated by Zentup, Clustag’s middleware platform, fully integrated with Perry Ellis’ Manhattan WMS, ensuring real time EPC level validation and allowing only compliant orders to proceed to shipping. The entire process is orchestrated by Zentup, Clustag’s middleware platform, fully integrated with Perry Ellis’ Manhattan WMS, ensuring real‑time EPC‑level validation and allowing only compliant orders to proceed to shipping.

One of the challenges was deploying the RFID solution in a live production environment under tight timelines and complex installation conditions, including work on mezzanines over 12 meters high. Despite these constraints, the RAIN system was implemented without interrupting daily operations or reducing throughput.

The results were immediate. Since go‑live, Perry Ellis has achieved a 17% reduction in discrepancies detected after the RFID tunnels, along with a significant decrease in non‑compliant shipments reaching B2B customers. This has translated into substantial savings in chargeback penalties and improved product availability at stores, ensuring the correct sizes, colours, and styles arrive at the point of sale.

“This project shows how RFID technology can transform fashion intralogistics from day one,” says Jorge Robledillo, Director of Clustag North America. “Strong collaboration between teams was essential to delivering measurable results in a highly demanding operational environment.”

According to Tom Seow, VP of Distribution Engineering at Perry Ellis, “the RFID tunnel solutions, integrated with Zentup, allow us to detect errors before they reach the store and give us a clear competitive advantage. We will continue investing in these systems for future projects.”

With this deployment, Perry Ellis reinforces its intralogistics digitalization strategy and demonstrates how automated post‑picking validation with RFID tunnels has become a key tool for reducing financial risk, improving operational efficiency, and meeting the high standards of U.S. retail operations.

This success story will be featured by Clustag at MODEX 2026, where the company will exhibit from April 13 to 16 in Atlanta (Booth B17332). The event will serve as a platform to discuss with U.S. customers and partners how RAIN RFID solutions can be successfully integrated into highly automated intralogistics environments and how these projects are setting a new benchmark for B2B fashion distribution in North America.

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Available for ‘ANT driven’ AGVs and AMRs, SmartPass is a robust, safe, and highly configurable technology that meets the core efficiency goal of obstacle avoidance without the drawbacks of traditional AMRs. SmartPass suits all types of automated vehicles and industrial sites.

No matter how clean a site, and how well trained its staff, the paths of mobile robots sometimes become blocked… AGVs typically manage this situation by sending an alarm to an operator, while AMRs take any route possible, without limitation. The first can lead to transport delays, the second to traffic deadlocks. SmartPass effectively bridges the gap between the two.

commented BlueBotics’ CEO, Dr. Nicola Tomatis.

Bridging the gap between AGVs & AMRs

SmartPass enables automated vehicles to follow virtual paths most of the time — for efficient, robust, and repeatable operation — while performing pragmatic obstacle avoidance maneuvers when blockages are detected.

“Rather than layering basic traffic management over obstacle avoidance functionality — which AMR producers have attempted with limited results — SmartPass does the opposite,” Tomatis explained. “It adds smart, configurable obstacle avoidance to ANT navigation’s default ‘virtual path follower’ mode. This ensures the powerful traffic management features of our ANT server fleet manager are also applied to SmartPass maneuvers.”

Three key SmartPass benefits

ANT’s SmartPass function offers three key benefits that together are unique in the mobile robot industry:

1. Efficiency-focused movement
   • Vehicles using SmartPass take the shortest route around an obstacle — within pre-configured limits — before returning immediately to their virtual path.
   • SmartPass-enabled vehicles also move faster than traditional AMRs. Travelling at optimal speeds and with optimal acceleration, they follow virtual paths and respect clear traffic rules most of the time, switching to slower, more reactive speeds only when needed.
   • Vehicle actions like moving forks and communicating with equipment take place during SmartPass maneuvers, saving time versus the more common sequential approach.
   • SmartPass maneuvers are blocked near pick/drop points to guarantee precision.
2. Minimizes deadlocks
   • By managing the movements of vehicles within the ANT server’s existing traffic management framework, SmartPass guarantees that vehicles only avoid obstacles when there is no risk of blocking another robot, minimizing the chance of deadlocks.
   • Vehicles only move around objects and never around other vehicles, a further cause of deadlocks.
3. Fully configurable
   • SmartPass can be configured to suit every user’s site and operational needs. Customers can define, for example, the maximum distance a vehicle is allowed to travel from its virtual path; the areas (and even individual routes) of a site where SmartPass cannot be used; and vehicle-specific parameters such as the exact distance to stop before an obstacle.

“SmartPass doesn’t allow robots to roam freely, and it is built from the ground up on ANT server’s powerful traffic management, virtually eliminating the chance of deadlocks,” Tomatis added. “We are confident this safe, prudent approach best meets the needs of industrial customers looking to deploy AGVs and AMRs in what are often high-traffic locations.”

SmartPass is available now for vehicle makers, system integrators, and end users deploying ‘ANT driven’ AGVs/AMRs managed by BlueBotics’ ANT server fleet manager.

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Optional upgrades, including ‘PowerDrive’ and ‘PowerLift’, are available to enhance travel and lift speeds, resulting in improved customer throughput. Furthermore, the vehicles are equipped with a variety of safety features. These include, among others, the standard all-wheel braking system and a shoulder guard protection. The driver’s workstation offers extensive comfort with complete decoupling from the chassis, excellent all-round visibility, additional space and versatile adjustability. Digital interfaces allow the reach trucks to be seamlessly integrated into operational IT systems, and the modular design facilitates the creation of customized solutions.

“The new reach trucks, which have a load capacity ranging from 1.4 to 1.8 tons, augment Linde MH’s existing portfolio. They are intended for the growing number of companies seeking compact, agile vehicles for single- and two-shift operations. Such trucks should be economical to purchase, high-quality, powerful, safe and comfortable for operators,” explains Alexander Schmidt, Senior Product Manager at Linde MH. “The Linde Ri reach trucks combine all these attributes, making them an excellent option for replenishment operations within the warehouse – that is, for transporting goods throughout the warehouse and performing storage and retrieval operations in block or rack systems.”

Optimized for typical warehouse applications

With a total length of 1,215 millimeters (l2 dimension), a turning radius of 2,709 millimeters (AST), and lifting heights of up to 11 meters, Linde Ri reach trucks optimize storage capacity utilization. They can be equipped with the optional PowerDrive and PowerLift functions to increase performance in goods handling. These options increase travel speed by 18 percent and lifting speed by 16 percent setting new performance benchmarks for this class of standard trucks. Two mast series ensure high residual load capacities. Mast functions are controlled ergonomically and with millimeter precision via the Linde Load Control system. Drivers can quickly and easily control the direction of travel and speed with the Linde dual pedal control. A lithium-ion spare battery is available for multi-shift operation to ensure continuous vehicle availability.

Comprehensive safety package

The comprehensive safety package focuses on protecting the driver, goods and infrastructure. An important competitive advantage is the standard hydraulic load wheel brakes, which provide short braking distances regardless of the load’s weight or the mast’s position, giving the driver maximum control over the vehicle. Another standard feature is the Linde Curve Assist. This system automatically adjusts the driving speed around curves based on the steering angle, thus increasing the vehicle’s stability. The elevated seat position improves the driver’s visibility of the load and surroundings. Optional features such as a reinforced glass roof, shoulder guard protection, and innovative assistance systems like the Linde Safety Guard, which warns of potential collisions, and the Rack Protection Sensor, which prevents collision damage to racks, provide additional protection.

Ergonomic benefits prevent fatigue

The driver’s workstation is fully decoupled from the chassis, effectively absorbing shocks and vibrations, which helps prevent premature fatigue. Together with the suspension-mounted driver’s seat, the workstation effectively absorbs shocks and vibrations experienced by the driver. Components such as the steering wheel, seat, and optional height-adjustable pedal plate can be adjusted individually to suit the driver and ensure a relaxed working posture. The low, wide entry with a non-slip surface makes it easier for operators to safely and frequently enter and exit the truck during daily warehouse operations. Numerous compartments provide ample storage space.

Reliable service

The robust design of the reach trucks, along with maintenance-free components such as the induction-hardened mast guide rails, ensure high availability and durability while reducing operating costs. All service-relevant components are easily accessible, which shortens maintenance times. Thanks to modern electronic architecture, software updates and new vehicle functions can be installed remotely over the air. The standard 14.3 kWh integrated lithium-ion battery is particularly energy-efficient and can be replaced with a more powerful 21.4 kWh battery if performance requirements increase.

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At the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo humanoids stole the show once again. Machines that walk, grip, and gesture like us have an undeniable magnetism, part science fiction promise, part genuine engineering marvel. Yet behind the spectacle, logistics leaders are asking whether these machines deliver demonstrable ROI, or if the industry is chasing a compelling idea that cannot yet scale.

Investment banks are certainly bullish. Morgan Stanley forecasts a global humanoid robot market worth $5 trillion by 2050, with deployment rates eventually reaching one machine for every ten humans. Those forecasts may well prove directionally right over decades. But logistics buyers don’t invest on 2050 narratives, they invest based on what can be deployed, integrated, and scaled in the next 12–24 months.

Innovation is only real when scaled

I’ve had countless conversations with CEOs in this industry who express frustration about being trapped in endless pilots and struggling to achieve meaningful traction. The pattern is familiar; exciting technology, impressive demonstrations, but no clear path to the kind of measurable, referenceable customer value that drives genuine adoption. What’s changed in warehouse automation is that customers are no longer rewarding novelty, they’re rewarding repeatable, referenceable outcomes delivered fast, in brownfield sites, under real volatility.

While there has become a hyperfocus on humanoids, most of the attention is driven by the fact that they generate a big reaction. We live in a world where reaction doesn’t equate to return on investment. Tim Tetzlaff, Global Head of Digital Transformation at DHL, captured this dynamic perfectly when he said: “Innovation is only real when scaled. Otherwise, it’s just a nice idea.” Too many robotics companies have compelling ideas but struggle to scale effectively, missing the chance to create meaningful customer impact. In practice, the winners in this cycle are the firms that scale through software-defined flexibility, not the ones chasing the most cinematic demo.

There’s a real risk that funding will dry up as ambitions collide with reality. Training robots through thousands of hours of simulation can produce impressive physical capabilities, but it grants them little genuine understanding of how the real world actually works. Warehouses are messy, stochastic environments: congestion, mixed Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), shifting priorities, human variability, and peak swings that don’t show up in lab conditions. Physical AI only becomes meaningful when systems learn from millions of real tasks in production. Purpose-built fleets do that every day, they don’t just learn how to move, they learn how the operation actually behaves. Purpose-built warehouse robots accumulate vast operational experience in the environments they are designed to serve. They know the warehouse floor because they have worked it.

The Gap Between Demo and Deployment

This gap between demonstration and deployment is the crux of the matter. Promotional videos may show humanoids performing acrobatic feats, but none can yet walk into an unfamiliar warehouse and reliably execute the complex, repetitive tasks that drive logistics operations. The most advanced humanoid models on the market today are still positioned as research platforms rather than production ready solutions. Production environments don’t just need a capable robot, they need an orchestration layer that can integrate with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), balance priorities in real time, and keep performance stable through peak periods.

As such, I expect 2026 to bring a wave of consolidation across the robotics sector, as companies locked into humanoid development face mounting pressure to demonstrate tangible commercial value. We’ll see the hype start to fade as customers and investors demand real world results, creating an environment where only the purpose built will survive.

The Opportunity in Front of Us

Here’s the reality that often gets lost in the humanoid excitement, we estimate that less than ten percent of warehouses globally have sufficient levels of automation today. The opportunity isn’t to build robots that look like humans. It’s to build the right solutions for the right tasks. That’s also why flexible automation is winning: operators want capability they can deploy in weeks, scale up or down, and reconfigure when volumes or product mix shift. In a world of uncertainty, adaptability is the real throughput advantage.

At Locus Robotics, we’ve moved beyond Person-to-Goods automation to define an entirely new category: Robots-to-Goods. Robots can now autonomously pick, move, and replenish inventory, performing tasks that previously required multiple human touches. But the hardware is only one piece of the puzzle. The real breakthrough comes from integrating Agentic AI with Physical AI to create systems that sense, decide, and act as one. The value isn’t one heroic robot, it’s a software-defined operation that keeps improving because it learns from the work. Warehouses become cohesive ecosystems rather than disconnected islands of automation.

The Financial Times suggests Japan, with its shrinking population and cultural openness to robotics, could become one of the first major democracies to experiment with widescale humanoid adoption. Perhaps. But for logistics leaders making investment decisions today, the question is not whether humanoid robots are impressive, they unquestionably are, but whether they can deliver the demonstrable, referenceable ROI that operations demand. Purpose built robotics already can and already do.

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The intralogistics sector has faced its share of challenges in recent years, 2025 being no exception. Tatsuya Akashi, President of Itoh Denki Europe, described it as “a quite tough year for the industry. We had very sluggish market investment because of France had a problem with the government, and Germany was not doing so well due to energy issues. Overall, it was a tough year.”

Even the UK, he noted, had seen economic efficiency fall, with major Japanese companies relocating their European headquarters to the continent rather than remaining in England. Yet amidst the difficulties, Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, Czechia, and Hungary, had experienced a manufacturing boom. “Poland and some of the Eastern Europe has boomed a lot, kind of becoming the centre of manufacturing of Europe,” he told me. Akashi highlighted that, despite these challenges, Itoh Denki Europe had experienced growth.

“Luckily, we gained back quite a lot of large projects, and we did above 10%… all the other surrounding companies said ‘You’re so lucky that you have 10% growth!’ Industry was pretty bad.”

A major focus for the company is helping customers increase their profitability. Akashi explained: “First of all, increase the value for money for our products. There are a lot of very cheap Chinese brands of motor rollers coming in. But when we look at durability, and also how we are increasing our speed or torque or other specifications, we are selling a much higher quality product at the same price.” He added that the company’s modules, such as the Multi Angle Ball Sorter, had become a driving force in Europe. “Instead of spending huge money on a cross-belt sorter or slidechute sorter, they can make a very simple sorter based on our MABS module… the cost is around half or one-third of having a huge cross-belt sorter,” he said. Maintenance is simple and quick, often just five minutes of downtime, which delivers clear benefits to both integrators and end users.

Competing with Cheap Imports

Local presence and service are equally important in competing with cheaper imports. “In the case of MDR or a slave roller, the cost itself is just around €10 euro. If you buy from China, maybe it’s €7, but then if you have a shortage and have to bring it by air shipment, it costs €50. So with something very cheap and heavy, you shouldn’t do it in China. You should do it somewhere close to Europe,” Akashi explained. Quick delivery, he said, ensures that downtime is eliminated and operations remain smooth. One example he gave was a leading global e-tailer (yes, THAT one!) where a cheaper solution would have caused nearly two days of conveyor stoppage, equating to potential losses of around €2 million. “If they were using ours, they could come back on in 10 minutes,” he said.

Artificial intelligence is also being integrated into Itoh Denki’s operations. “When we design some control software nowadays, we partly use AI… when we want to do preventive maintenance or control the box moving style… we could use AI to better control our programme and make the programme faster,” Akashi said. While AI is currently an enhancer of automation, he sees substantial future potential as more end users shift from manual work to automated solutions.

Carbon Reduction

Sustainability is another priority. Akashi stressed the company’s strength in enabling carbon reduction, not only through more energy-efficient products but by optimising operations. “If they use our motorised roller, because we do the run-on-demand, it means… only three blocks are moving out of 100. Thanks to this run-on-demand technology, you can save up to 60% electricity… using Itoh Denki product, which is the enabler of the final carbon footprint. Here we are very strong pride in our company,” he said.

Akashi (pictured, below) also discussed the heritage of Japanese engineering. “One thing I can say is in the B2B area, especially if it is… common motor, there’s a lot of okay-level cheap Chinese motors. But we are making a dedicated motor for this industry, which is high torque but low speed… Japan is absolutely number one,” he said.

Looking ahead, the company continues to focus on innovation and customer engagement. Its Amsterdam technology centre allows northern European clients to test products with their own totes. Customisation is fast, with minor adjustments taking just two weeks. Akashi also highlighted new developments to be showcased at LogiMAT, including the flexible noise-arrest roller, which can carry smaller products and reduce maintenance demands.

Reflecting on success, Akashi summarised the company’s philosophy:

“We become smiling when our good technology is adopted and contribute to society. It means a big satisfaction of the end user, our OEM partners, but also we can make our business grow and certain level of high profitability can be kept.”

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