German firm Körber is to roll out the largest deployment of its kind for autonomous mobile robots in Australia and New Zealand for online retailer Catch Group.

Catch Group, part of the Wesfarmers Group and one of Australia’s largest online retailers, has partnered with Körber to deploy autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) at its distribution centre in Truganina, Victoria.

The project will see the online retailer roll out more than 100 autonomous mobile robots and is the largest AMR deployment of its kind for an ecommerce marketplace in Australia and New Zealand.

Acquired by Wesfarmers last year, Catch Group has recently added thousands of additional stock keeping units (SKUs) to its already extensive range of brands and products.

“Catch has experienced phenomenal success since its inception as an early innovator in the ecommerce market in Australia,” said Richard Whetton, head of fulfilment at Catch Group. “With Covid-19 driving more consumers online, Catch is very well placed to meet this rise in demand and this investment ensures that we continue to increase and improve our product and service offering for our rapidly growing consumer base.”

To meet the increase in Catch’s product range, the online retailer has invested in Körber’s AMRs, powered by Chinese technology provider Geek+. The implementation consists of more than 100 AMRs operating across 3785m² of allocated space within the 30,000m² facility. The robots will give Catch the capability to manage an additional 80,000 SKUs over and above its existing range.

“The AMRs will provide Catch with the ability to pick an additional 2000 orders an hour,” said Rizan Mawzoon, head of transformation at Körber. “With its growing consumer base and the increased demand for timely and efficient delivery across Australia, this will play a crucial role in Catch being able to deliver the excellent customer experience the retailer is known for.”

Set to go-live in November, the deployment of the AMRs will take approximately three months and will help Catch accelerate its online fulfilment capabilities, moving a step closer to its overall aim of offering same-day delivery.

“We are always looking at ways we can get the order faster to the customer,” said Saar Davidi, project manager at Catch Group. “This investment will allow us to hold more products ready for immediate picking, meaning we can ship most orders out the same day the order comes in.”

With Covid-19 driving ecommerce numbers to an all-time high in Australia, Catch has reported a 68.7 per cent increase in sales. Even before Covid-19 supercharged online retail, Catch was heading on a steep growth trajectory and reported a 21.4 per cent increase in sales growth.

“This investment is a significant step for Catch Group in its move to offer faster and more convenient fulfilment options for its increasing customer base,” said Whetton. “By adding thousands of SKUs to Catch’s already extensive online store, we are providing Australian’s with easy and convenient access to their much-loved high street brands. We are excited to see where this technology deployment takes us and to seek out further opportunities where we can utilise this kind of agile and flexible technology.”

Körber Supply Chain (formerly Cohesio Group) has previously partnered with iconic Aussie-retailer Kmart, also part of the Wesfarmers Group, in the deployment of its Android Voice picking products.

“Kmart was one of our very first customers and we are thrilled to be working with another retailer in the Wesfarmers Group,” said Nishan Wijemanne, managing director of Körber Supply Chain Asia Pacific. “Catch Group is an absolute pioneer in the ecommerce landscape in Australia and I’m excited to work with them to improve fulfilment rates and help them deliver in this competitive marketplace.”

David Matheson, chief operations officer at Kmart, added: “We went through a rigorous process to find a provider that could help us continue to deliver our fast fulfilment rates with this significant increase in SKUs. Körber has a wealth of experience in delivering this kind of automation, and we really loved their honest and practical approach.”

Cohesio Group along with Aberle, Aberle Software, Cirrus Logistics, Consoveyo, DM Logic, HighJump, Inconso, Otimis, Langhammer, Riantics and Voiteq rebranded to Körber as part of a global rebrand in September.

Back in 2006, Catch was launched by two brothers who had a vision to change the way people shopped online. Fast forward to today and Catch.com.au is part of the Wesfarmers Group alongside Australia’s top retailers, Kmart, Target, Bunnings and Officeworks.