Kroger will bring advanced picking technology from longtime partner Ocado Group to fulfillment centers across its network, including expanding its use of robotics in preparing customer orders. Kroger, which has partnered with Ocado since 2018, will deploy these “Re:imagined” technologies in several current fulfillment centers and future facilities.
The new solution includes On-Grid Robotic Picking (OGRP), a robotic arm installed directly on a grid. Operating on the grid, the robot places inventory next to the robotic arm and packs it into bags for customers. Ocado’s retail partners can each stock up to 50,000 different products, so the robotic arm needs to be able to accommodate a variety of weights, sizes, shapes, surfaces, fragility and packaging. Using advanced machine vision, deep reinforcement learning and sensing capabilities, OGRP can pick tens of thousands of products and pack them precisely and densely into bags.
Additionally, Ocado’s Automated Frame Loading (AFL) automates the physically demanding task of placing prepared customer orders into delivery totes and loading them into a delivery frame, ready for dispatch. Computer vision inspects both the tote and the frame, understanding the tote’s dimensions and shape to enable alignment with the frame, then adjusts orientation in real time to push the tote in.
