Boots UK has revealed it deployed 135 new cobots at its Burton warehouse to assist workers in delivering some three million items to customers in the build up to Black Friday and during Cyber Weekend.
The cobots supported staff by carrying orders between picking stations, reducing the distance people working in the warehouse had to walk while also reportedly improving productivity.
Last week, the British retailer estimated it would experience six times the average number of orders per week during the period between Thursday 21 November and Monday 2 December.
Staff at 300 Boots stores have been picking goods for online orders to support the rise in demand from customers at Boots.com.
Alan Penhale, interim director of supply chain, Boots UK, said: “Our warehouse team absolutely love the cobots.
“They make the warehouse a calmer, more productive place and are also 2-3 times faster than manually pushing trolleys long distances, saving our teams from having to walk quite as far.”
