Berlin, Dusseldorf If you are looking for people in the logistics center of the Oda delivery service in Ragow, Brandenburg, you will most likely find them in the deep-freeze chamber. Armed with snow overalls and balaclavas against the biting cold, they take pizzas and fish fingers out of the chests with thick gloves. Since frozen orders aren’t as common, Oda says it’s easier to let humans do it instead of machines.
Otherwise there are hardly any people in the hall, which is more than two football pitches in size. When they do, they drive forklifts, put bread in the oven or grab goods from the shelves. According to the Amazon principle, there are a total of 9,000 products on different levels, completely disorderly, an extensive range, especially for online supermarkets.
The online supermarket, which has also been supplying the entire Berlin city area since Thursday, relies on what is known as efficient automation. Order boxes run through several aisles on conveyor belts according to a system that has been improved over the years in the home market of Norway. “For us, automation intertwines with manual work,” says Oda Germany boss Malte Nousch the Handelsblatt.
For a long time, suppliers in Germany relied on well-coordinated manual processes in delivery centers. But those times are over. While the British competitor Ocado is known for its cost-intensive, almost fully automated warehouses, most other companies rely on a combination of special logistics software, automation and areas reserved for humans.
This partial automation is intended to increase efficiency in the warehouse, reduce the error rate and shorten delivery times, but also ensure that investment costs are still manageable. For example, Oda’s competitor Rewe has at least partially automated its central warehouse “Scarlet One” in Cologne. There, boxes with goods are driven to the packing stations, where employees then put the orders together and pack them in bags.
Knuspr mother Rohlik relies even more on automation
The Czech company Rohlik, which delivers groceries in the Munich and Frankfurt regions under the name Knuspr, relies even more heavily on robots. Both locations and the warehouse in Vienna are to be largely automated over the course of this year. In the first phase, the company is investing around 45 million euros.
“For us, automation and manual work go hand in hand.”
(Photo: Oda)
In Munich, the dry goods range is already automated with a system from the manufacturer Autostore, and 96 robots are in use. The containers are driven to the packing station, where the robots hand the goods to the employees, which are then placed in the bags for delivery. The entire range is now to be converted to the same system.
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By 2025, a total of more than ten other Rohlik warehouses in Europe will be equipped with automated storage and retrieval systems. The next new location is likely to be Hamburg, where the warehouse is already largely complete. The opening was originally planned for last year, but was initially postponed due to the difficult overall economic situation.
By 2025, a total of more than ten other Rohlik warehouses in Europe will be equipped with automated storage and retrieval systems.
(Photo: © 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP)
According to the company, the robot-assisted compilation of shopping carts triples the productivity of the distribution center and increases capacity by 30 percent. “In Munich we can see what an outstanding effect automation has on the site’s productivity,” said Rohlik founder Tomas Cupr. The company is therefore convinced that, as in the Czech Republic, it will soon be in the black.
Oda’s goal is a turnover of 250 million euros
In the long term, Oda is aiming for annual sales of 250 million euros in Germany. Nousch estimates that around 200,000 customers would be needed for this. Oda had generated 250 million euros over the past year – when the start-up was only active in Norway and Finland. Operationally, the company was just barely in the black at the time.
The Norwegian provider now supplies all of Berlin.
(Photo: Oda)
Oda has invested a low double-digit million amount in the delivery center in Ragow. The hall was built entirely according to our own ideas, says Steffen Christ, the manager responsible for the operative business, and refers to several rooms with different temperatures for fruit and vegetables or the roof, which is completely covered with solar modules, the electricity from which flows into the cooling system.
The delivery from Berlin is only the first step for Oda. Medium-sized cities within a radius of up to 2.5 hours by car will soon follow. This could also include Leipzig.
However, Oda is looking closely at the costs and whether the offer will be accepted. A second delivery center is currently being completed in Bochum. Contrary to the original plans, the company is waiting to open. When operations will start also depends on how things are going in the capital, says Nousch.
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