Rhenus deploys autonomous guided forklifts in France

Twenty-one autonomous collaborative forklifts have just been deployed at Rhenus in Saint-Quentin Fallavier, near Lyon, to improve order picking operations. Supplied by Effidence, they are dedicated to the logistics activities of Bjorg et Compagnie, a long-standing Rhenus customer at this site.
As part of regular discussions for continuous upgrading, Rhenus and its customer, Bjorg et Compagnie, decided to improve logistics operations by introducing autonomous collaborative forklift trucks for picking.
Rhenus chose Effidence for its robotic solution that enables picking operators to reduce their daily walking distance within the warehouse, increase their effective working time and reduce physical risks.

"The support of autonomous forklifts to our picking operators will help us optimize their work by focusing on more advanced tasks and will offer our customer more flexibility to absorb peaks in activity and major fluctuations in
volume fluctuations. In addition, their working conditions will be facilitated and improved," explains Mercedes Ortiz Garcia, Business Development Manager at Rhenus Logistics France.
Bjorg et Compagnie's logistics activity is growing strongly and steadily, but is subject to seasonal fluctuations.
The logistics provider's ability to cope with these peaks of activity by optimizing the management of its human resources is crucial. This is why automation and robotization were the subject of an in-depth study, which was jointly initiated by the two partners.
"On the basis of continuous improvement and co-construction of solutions, our relationship with Rhenus is strengthened when we choose investments together.
This allows us to optimize resource efficiency and share savings. We look forward to measuring the impact of this new organization on our ability to respond to customer demand. The spring sales operations, which will start soon, will be a significant test," says Jean-Ferréol Ruph, Supply Chain Director of Ecotone France, parent company of Bjorg et Compagnie.