UK online supermarket giant Ocado has announced the launch of a completely robotic warehouse in Asia.
The company said on Monday (10 July) that its warehouse, developed in partnership with the Japanese grocery company Aeon, will be followed by further fully automated warehouses in future.
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Ocado’s robotic warehouse is currently taking orders for Aeon’s “Green Beans” brand across the Kanto region, Reuters reported.
The customer fulfilment centre (CFC) is the first of its kind in Asia, according to the company.
The CFC features a Smart Cart function and one-hour delivery slots to customers.
The partnership between Ocado and Aeon began in 2019. The Japanese company expected that the partnership would lead to grocery sales of $4.2bn by 2030.
“We’re proud to bring the benefits of Ocado’s technology to Japan, and to celebrate the first ‘go-live’ of an Ocado CFC in Asia,” Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group, said.
Adding: “Grocery spend in Asia is set to outstrip every other region of the globe over the next decade, and online remains the fastest growing channel in grocery across APAC.”
The move comes as industrial robots generated sales of $27.1bn in 2022, according to research analyst GlobalData. The analyst predicts sales will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 37.5% until 2030.
In terms of global investment, investors betted higher on robotics in 2022 than any of the preceding three years, GlobalData found.
Investment in robotics totalled $32.4bn in 2022, a slight increase from the year prior which saw total investment of $27.4bn.
The total amount of investment in the sector has not yet reached the heights of 2018, which saw $51bn invested into the market.
