Not many businesses can compete with e-retail behemoth Amazon, but North America’s oldest retail company, the
Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada, is aiming to take on the world’s largest online retailer.The Hudson’s Bay CEO, Jerry Storch, claims that an order can be ready to leave the firm’s new 750,000 sq. ft. warehouse within 15 minutes of being received.
The warehouse shelving system is three storeys high. Robots travel up and down to pick items. When the robots go downwards, the kinetic energy is used to recharge their batteries.
The automatic system in the warehouse cost $60m, and is the most advanced packing and shipping system in Canada. Amazon is big in Canada, and until now no retailer has competed against the giant.
Canadian retail consultant Doug Stephens said:
“For a long time, Canadian retailers just sort of shrugged their shoulders about e-commerce. They didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Now all of a sudden, along comes Amazon and the tables have turned. I think they’ve recognized that e-commerce is the future and that someone else is capitalizing on that future, and it’s not them.”
In the UK, there are retailers who are competing with Amazon in terms of automation and quick deliver. Ocado has developed a warehouse that has over 1,000 robots that communicate via a 4G wireless network to cooperate with each other.
To make your company’s warehouse more efficient, talk to Greenoaks, who can design and install warehouse shelving system and supply secondhand pallets for use by humans or robots.
