Matsmart, an eGrocery business which sells food and consumer products that otherwise risk being disposed as waste, has had a strong annual growth since the start in 2014. Last year was no exception, and a record year for the entire e-commerce industry. The strong growth is also the reason why Matsmart now decided to invest in a new robotic and automated warehouse.
– Our current warehouse is as efficient as possible, based on its size and organization. Our employees do a fantastic job. But we are very quickly approaching our maximum capacity in the current premises and it is time to scale up to the next level. We expect that our new automated warehouse will give us three times more capacity with plenty of room to grow further. Therefore, we also hope that our employees choose to join the new warehouse, says Conrad Edgren, Logistics Manager at Matsmart.
AutoStore provides 6000 order lines per hour.
The warehouse building, powered by solar panels on the roof, will be twice as large as Matsmart’s current warehouse: 20.000 square meters with 10.000 pallet locations and 14 loading docks. The automation consists of an AutoStore system from Element Logic, who has delivered automated warehousing solutions to several e-retailers, including XXL, NA-KD, FoodOase, Bergfreunde and Proshop. The 149 robots will support the employees, and the picking capacity is estimated to be as much as 6000 order lines per hour.
– It is a very exciting journey we have ahead of us. We expect that our new warehouse will be able to withstand our growth over the next ten years. This investment is an important piece of the puzzle for us to achieve sustainable profitability in the Nordic region, says Conrad Edgren.
– It is very exciting that Element Logic Sweden, together with Matsmart shows that AutoStore is the right automation solution for this type of fast-growing eGrocery business. The fact that we are contributing to a player in an increasingly sustainable food industry getting a sharp, cost-effective, and more sustainable logistics is a big plus, says Thomas Karlsson, Managing Director at Element Logic Sweden.