Sports retail company Alpen will use Geek+ shelf-to-person robots at its new 33,000m² ecommerce warehouse in western Japan.

The facility in Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture, is expected to go live this spring.

This phased expansion adds to Geek+’s existing work with Alpen at its facility in eastern Japan.

Alpen first began using 56 Geek+ goods-to-person robots in its eastern Japan ecommerce centre in 2018. As its ecommerce business grew, Alpen scaled up to 216 robots in the 23,000m² facility, achieving a fourfold efficiency improvement and doubling storage capacity while shortening delivery lead time.

“Due to ecommerce demand, we have launched strategic fulfilment centres in eastern and western Japan, aiming to establish a network capable of fast and efficient supply to the market,” said Ryuichi Hamanaka, Alpen’s head of logistics. “The mission was not only to decentralise distribution but also to ensure healthy profits in terms of managing cost and productivity.”

For its order fulfilment, Alpen needed modular, flexible automation that could adapt quickly to changes in order flows and allowed a scaled approach to implementation.

The shelf-to-person robots provide flexibility, easy deployment and high throughput with a short implementation period. There’s no need for infrastructure investment and the robots handle goods of all sizes. They carry shelves to picking stations instead of requiring workers to walk through the facility searching for each product.

“We see Geek+ as a true partner in the evolution of our warehouse automation,” Hamanaka said. “The culture of fast action from proposal to implementation and validation aligns with our company’s corporate culture, and we’ re proud to once again partner with Geek+ on our newest ecommerce facility.”

Geek+ grows with users at their own pace, enabling sustainable and flexible operations through local teams. This localisation enables support for Alpen’s business objectives, introducing efficiency improvements and service enhancements as needs evolve.

Alpen (store.alpen-group.jp) is a sports retail company in Japan with approximately 400 stores nationwide, operating under various formats such as Alpen, Sports Depo and Golf 5.

Founded in 2015, Chinese firm Geek+ (www.geekplus.com) has over 1500 employees, with offices in the USA, Germany, UK, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.