Boots deployed 135 cobots at Burton warehouse
Warehouse workers and cobots worked side-by-side at the Boots UK Burton warehouse, as the retailer delivered some 3 million items to customers over the Peak season.
The collaborative robots from US tech leader Locus Robotics worked alongside Boots warehouse workers by carrying orders between picking stations, cutting down the distance the warehouse teams have to walk and improving productivity.
During Peak, Boots saw six times the average number of orders per week during the period and colleagues in 300 of its stores are picking orders to anticipate the increase in demand on boots.com.
Warehouse colleagues welcomed the cobots by giving them names such as Hal, Botty McBot Face, and Seb, after Boots UK’s SVP and managing director, Seb James.
Alan Penhale, interim director of supply chain, Boots UK, said: “Our warehouse team absolutely love the cobots. They make the warehouse a calmer, more productive place and are also 2-3 times faster than manually pushing trolleys long distances, saving our teams from having to walk quite as far.”
