A remarkable 2025, driven by innovation and growing competition in robotics.
A. Piece Picking / Case Picking (Goods-to-Person – GTP)
The GTP market continues to evolve, increasing pressure on traditional shuttle systems and pushing them into more specialisation niche.
▪️Exotec Next Generation Skypod: The new version of the Skypod system has been a major highlight, offering:
Higher Density: Enhanced storage capacity
Improved Ergonomics: Better design for operator workstations
Dual Capability: Supports both each picking and full or open case handling within a single, integrated system, addressing multi-channel demands.
(This new generation won the IFOY Award in 2025)
▪️The New Competitors’ Ascent: The long-awaited challengers have firmly established themselves:
▪️Hai Robotics – HaiPick Climb: Innovative climbing robot solution rapidly gaining traction, appearing in numerous integrator portfolios due to its simplified architecture, high throughput (up to 4,000 totes/hour), and ease of retrofitting existing racking
▪️ KNAPP – AEROBOT: Autonomous robot moving across the floor and climbing racks using friction drive technology; key market entry, winning the Best Product at LogiMAT 2025. Offers exceptional storage density and flexibility, especially for small to medium-sized applications
▪️ AutoStore™’s Evolution: Cube-based system continues to innovate, notably with:
▪️AutoCase: Automates the movement of full cases in and out of storage, seamlessly blending case handling and piece-picking in the same high-density grid
▪️FlexBins: Enables the use of multiple bin sizes in one grid to enhance density and SKU assortment
B. Pallet Automation (Pallet-to-Person – PTP)
The category of 3D Pallet-to-Person (PTP) Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS), which use robots to access pallets across all dimensions of the rack (similar to GTP shuttle logic), is gaining strong market acceptance and is now available from multiple key vendors.
It is a major step in the world of pallets, as it also increases pressure on traditional stacker crane applications.
▪️Movu Robotics – Atlas 3D: Widely promoted by integrators, showcasing compact scalability and high-density pallet storage
▪️Mecalux – Pallet Shuttle: The company offers its own PTP solution
▪️Geek+: Wide and rapidly expanding range of robotic solutions for pallet handling
▪️ Eurofork: Actively available to integrators in this specialized market segment
Historical Note:
SAVOYE pioneered this concept with Magmatic®, using bidirectional shuttles for high-density pallet storage. Modern 3D PTP robots, like GTP systems, stand out for scalability and modularity.
What trends or solutions would you add to 2025’s top innovations? Which vendors do you recommend?
