Zalando, Europe’s leading online fashion and lifestyle platform, and partner Ingram Micro have opened a new fulfillment centre in Brunna, near Stockholm, Sweden. The new Nordic fulfillment centre has the most advanced automation technology in Zalando’s portfolio and with strategic geographical location, it will cut lead times in half for Nordic customers.
Using new automation solutions, Zalando aims to increase efficiency in order to meet set growth targets, as well as to complement and support manual work for employees. Automation in the Nordic fulfillment centre is focused on outbound processes, which ensure faster delivery to the customers. The automation system adapts seamlessly to changing inventory profiles, demand patterns, and peaks; improving efficiency and ergonomics for the employees.
“Zalando believes in pairing cutting-edge automation solutions and passionate employees. We use automation technologies to ease the workload of our employees, by taking on monotonous and non-ergonomic tasks. At the same time, we increase efficiency. Better and faster warehouse operations allow us to process orders even faster, and our customers will benefit from shorter delivery times,” says Jan Bartels, VP Customer Fulfillment and Logistics at Zalando.
Around 50 GreyOrange butlers, which are advanced autonomous mobile robots that use robotic goods-to-person technology, complement the manual work of the around 500 employees at the site. The size of the Nordic warehouse near Stockholm is approximately 30,000 square metres, which roughly corresponds to the size of three football fields.
“Ingram Micro, the global leader in logistics, commerce and device lifecycle services, are proud of our partnership with Zalando, the leading fashion e-commerce player in Europe. We are happy to be part of what is likely to be one of the largest logistic assignments in the Nordics. Building up a large organisation with a strong culture, engaging around 500 employees from many different nationalities, is developing and satisfying,” says Joakim Samuelsson, Nordic director commerce and lifecycle services, Ingram Micro.
The location near Stockholm was mainly chosen due to its advanced infrastructure and strategic position, making it ideal for catering to Nordic consumers. Furthermore, the location also has the full potential for next day deliveries to the Nordic capitals and same day delivery in Stockholm.
“The Nordics has been one of the fastest growing regions for Zalando, and we want to increase our growth, both in terms of revenues and active customers. In order to do this, we need to get closer to Nordic consumers. Shortening lead times through opening a satellite warehouse in Sweden and providing a strong Nordic assortment are key elements going forward,” says Kenneth Melchior, director Northern Europe at Zalando.
