Exotec, a global warehouse robotics provider, has today announced the commercial launch of the Next Generation of its Skypod system, offering higher performance, improved storage density, and advanced software features.
The Next Generation of Skypod comes with a number of design improvements, including a new and more compact Skypod robot, a workstation for robot-to-robot picking, a high-throughput exchanger, and denser storage. These redesigns, combined with new software features, improve the throughput at a single workstation by 50%, while enhancing storage density by up to 30% compared to the previous generation.
The key differentiator for the Next Generation of Skypod is the ability to handle both each and case picking, positioning Exotec to better address multichannel needs with a single solution. The system also natively supports a number of value-added logistics features that traditionally require external equipment and complex subsystems. This not only enables customers to simplify the flow of goods through the warehouse, but also significantly shrinks the system footprint by cutting down the need for conveyors, sorters, external storage, and packing stations. Specifically, the Next Generation of Skypod supports:
- Integrated buffer: Next-Gen Skypod handles buffering within the system. Following order preparation at the workstation, completed or semi-completed orders get automatically stored inside the racks until they are ready for outbound, or further consolidation. This helps reduce the need for staging areas or any other external buffer systems.
- Perfect sequencing: Next-Gen Skypod handles strict outbound sequencing before ejecting orders by using robots and the exchanger. The robots group orders and deliver them in a specific arrangement to the exchanger, which then routes the orders to outbound. This enables precise loading of pallets, containers, or trucks based on delivery routes, store planograms, or other unloading requirements, all without the need for external sorting equipment.
- Pick-and-Pack: Next-Gen Skypod handles packing as an integrated part of the picking process. Operators pick directly into fulfilment containers, removing the need for manual packing operations downstream. This functionality pairs extremely well with right-size packaging solutions. These solutions can be integrated with Next-Gen Skypod to enable picking into right-size containers, significantly cutting last-mile costs.
“When designing the Next Generation Skypod, our goal was to create a solution that would set the industry standard of operational excellence and elegance for the next decade and beyond,” said Romain Moulin, CEO and co-founder of Exotec. “We’re already seeing our customers reimagine their entire supply chain around the transformative capabilities of this innovation, from combining case and each picking operations, to leveraging outbound sequencing to improve transportation costs. Witnessing this level of impact has been incredibly rewarding.”
Exotec developed the Next Generation of Skypod in response to evolving market needs and feedback from the existing customer base, which increasingly demands warehouse robotics to address a wider range of processes within the warehouse walls. Over the past two years, Exotec has sold and deployed the Next Generation Skypod system globally in stealth mode. The company has successfully secured over 20 projects worldwide, totalling $400M, to customers including Oxford Industries (Tommy Bahama, Lilly Pulitzer, Southern Tide, etc.) and E.Leclerc, to transform and strengthen their supply chain operations.
“We chose Exotec for its storage density and its operational flexibility. Robotic advancements have enabled us to set up a larger buffer area for prepared orders within the system,” said Maxence Maurice, CEO of E. Leclerc Seclin. “Previously, I estimated that the customer journey, from arriving at the pick-up point to leaving with their groceries, took between 10 and 15 minutes. Today, with the Exotec solution, it takes less than five minutes.”
Weaponising your supply chain
In the last two years Exotec has sold over 20 projects totaling over €400m, 2,600 robots, 120 workstations, 110 exchangers and 1.5 million rack locations. With the second generation Skypod therefore, the company is ready to scale with customers’ supply chains.
By talking and learning with existing clients, Exotec has seen a very strong demand for this next-gen system. Manufacturing is in the midst of a transformative moment for warehouse robotics, but what will be the likely impact on supply chains and customer bases? And why is the next generation Skypod system likely to be a game-changer?
Firstly, there are a variety of challenges facing manufacturing and industrial businesses in 2025. There is uncertainty and volatility everywhere we look, with macro factors ranging from political and financial to natural, that make it very difficult to view the future with any clarity.
There are also significant business challenges such as huge SKU proliferation and inventory depth issues; channels shifting from wholesale to retail to e-commerce; new consumer demands; and competition with global giants that are financing their cost of capital with web services. Social media is also influencing consumers to rapidly shift their choices and preferences from day-to-day. Ultimately it adds up to being a challenging and competitive environment.
So, how can manufacturers change their supply chain perspective from responding to unplanned events, budget constraints and cost centres, to utilising supply chains as a strategic weapon to capture market share and to impact the bottom line?
Imagine a supply chain with multiple businesses that operate independently, plus separate and redundant transportation networks and distribution centres servicing retail stores, regional distribution centres and e-commerce channels with wildly varying customers. For example, one customer wants 20 different cartons on a pallet, and the next wants 20 different units inside one carton. To add to the complexity there are incredible business fluctuations, ranging from 80% cartons one day to 80% items the next day.
This is not an unusual scenario in modern day manufacturing operations. But, what if you could combine all these variables into one supply chain? With legacy systems, it’s impossible. They are too large, too expensive, and perhaps most importantly, too finely engineered, meaning they don’t protect against the volatility and uncertainty of the future.
If that same supply chain is reimagined with the next generation Skypod, it’s a very different story. Manufacturers don’t have to be afraid of the unknown, as they know the system has the inherent flexibility to adapt to future situations that the business doesn’t necessarily know about today.
But manufacturers also need the highest density and the best possible throughput. They need to be able to build pallets in a store appropriate format to change the business case from one based in the warehouse, to one based on the whole supply chain. They need specific packaging for e-commerce to reduce transportation costs, and they need to be able to sequence truck routes in a way that’s going to satisfy customers and be done in the most efficient way possible.
That changes the whole business case from a costing exercise in a warehouse, to one based on the entire supply chain and customer experience. With Skypod, businesses can retool their supply chains. They can have fewer and smaller distribution centres, closer to manufacturers and to population centres. They can have improved performance per square foot of around 300% compared to any other available solution on the market.
The performance density of next-gen Skypod is a game-changer, and the limit is no longer the system itself, but the customer’s own creativity as they look forward. With next-gen Skypod, manufacturers don’t have to be a visionaries, keep up with rapidly changing customer preferences or evaluate business cases against tired and irrelevant metrics. They can use their supply chain as a weapon to increase customer satisfaction and impact the bottom line.
For more information on the Next Generation of Skypod system, please visit www.exotec.com.
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