A robot obsessed with shoes

Online retailers, sports brands, distribution centers and logistics providers: all struggle with an ever- growing share of footwear that is sold online. While traditional warehouse automation technology often doesn’t fit the requirements in terms of flexibility and scalability, manual labor force remains expensive and difficult to recruit. But now mobile picking robots are about to enter the stage to finally automate a process, that was too complex in the past for autonomous machines.

With the help of 3D cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence, the mobile picking robot TORU works side by side with human staff in distribution centers and helps to collect online ordered shoes. The robot also takes care of returns and places shoe boxes back into the shelf completely autonomously. Warehouse operators benefit from extended operating hours, up to 30% reduced price-per-unit and an automation that easily scales when business grows. Fleets of the TORU robot are already in operation at warehouses from Zalando, ASICS, FIEGE Logistics or LLOYD Shoes.

Julia Stegbauer, responsible for the Magazino booth at the Expo Riva show says: “We are extremely excited to exhibit our robot for the first time at an in-person event since the Covid-19 pandemic started. To display the robot in Italy is a premiere for us as well and we can’t wait to finally connect with the international footwear community.”

The international footwear exhibition “Expo Riva Schuh 2021” is the first possibility for the Italian market to experience the robot TORU live in action. Logistics executives of the footwear and retail industry are invited to visit the robot at the booth from Magazino and get into discussion about potential use cases with the Magazino engineers on site.