Bestseller, which owns brands including Vero Moda and Jack and Jones, is opening a new logistics centre powered by 1,400 robots.

The Dutch firm said that the automated technology, which will be rolled out across the 155,000 metre squared warehouse in partnership with Knapp, will carry out piece picking, pallet storage and handling, and operate a robotic shuttle system,

The company said that automating the picking of products in the fashion industry has traditionally been more difficult than in other sectors as it the items are more difficult to manipulate compared to harder items with flat surfaces. It explained that at the new site, this issue would be addressed by using robots powered by AI learning technology to supplement the work done at manual picking stations.

The logistics centre, located 60 kilometres east of Amsterdam, will operate at over 20,000 retrievals per hour, enabling Bestseller to operate at a higher capacity than that of its current system.

Bestseller said that the new centre, set to be fully operational by the end of 2026, is to create around 600 jobs, over half of which will involve working with the robots.

The retailer added that the new technology will require a skilled workforce made up of roles such as data analysts, software engineers and maintenance technicians.

“Through our partnership with Knapp we are aiming to develop one of the most highly automated logistics centres in the fashion industry and across Europe,” said Allan Kyhe Kjærgaard, logistics director at Bestseller. “Investing in this scale of technology will optimise the efficiency of the centre and the process of distributing products to retail customers in our largest markets.

"The ambition for this logistics centre is one-touch automation, where products are received, processed, and shipped using limited manual handling. The dynamic solutions result in increased efficiency and reduced risk of redundancy caused by single machine malfunction in storing and retrieving items.”

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