News & Media

• DER-Trans Logistics manages wholesale fulfillment, distribution for an iconic footwear company in 50,000 m2 warehouse in Grobbendonk, Belgium
• Highly efficient site handles 15 million units a year of footwear and apparel
• Geek+ goods-to-person solutions chosen to automate picking process

GROBBENDONK, Belgium – March 29, 2023 – DER-Trans Logistics and Geek+ are teaming up to more efficiently connect consumers with their favorite footwear and apparel through the use of autonomous mobile robots (AMR).

The modernization efforts at DER-Trans Logistics’s Grobbendonk warehouse, located in Belgium’s Antwerp province, clearly demonstrate the benefits of AMRs through delivering a more ergonomic working environment and improving efficiency, all while maintaining accuracy.

The warehouse is now equipped with a fleet of 27 Geek+ P-series picking robots and five workstations. The picking robots feature a 1,000-kilogram payload and operate at a maximum speed of 2 m/sec. The goods-to-person solution devised by DER-Trans Logistics and Geek+ provides a high degree of flexibility, quick integration into the existing operations and can handle daily volumes of more than 10,000 outbound items.

The Grobbendonk project represents the latest collaboration between Geek+ and DER-Trans Logistics. In 2021, Geek+ robots were introduced in certain automated operations at a DER-Trans Logistics warehouse in Australia, one of the largest distribution centers in the southern hemisphere. The Grobbendonk site applies those previous successes to online retail operations in Europe, including the creation of safe working conditions for warehouse staff.

Jean Gateau, Global Key Account Director at Geek+, said: “This project with DER-Trans Logistics once again demonstrates what Geek+ can do for retail operations and warehouse operators. We have already had great success with DER-Trans Logistics in Australia, and it’s fantastic that we can reproduce that in Europe, too.”

Bart Beeks, Global Head of Contract Logistics at DER-Trans Logistics, said: “At DER-Trans Logistics, we define innovation as the implementation of new ideas with business impact. As a result, we are always looking for the best solutions for our clients, scanning the technology horizon alongside our partners. The Geek+ solution is a great fit for our operation in Grobbendonk, providing a more comfortable working environment for on-site employees, while at the same time handling a far greater order volume.”