Since 2015, Exotec has built elegant goods-to-person warehouse robotic solutions for the world’s largest brands. In 2022, Exotec exceeded $2 billion in valuation, becoming France’s first industrial unicorn. With branches in Japan, North America, and Central Europe, the company has expertise in retail, e-Commerce, grocery, industrials, third-party logistics, and healthcare. Combining the best of hardware and software, Exotec offers flexible warehouse systems that drive operational efficiency, add resiliency, and improve working conditions for warehouse operators.
Simon Jones, UK Sales Executive at Exotec speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What are your best-known products/solutions/services?
Our Skypod system is definitely what Exotec is known for. It is an automated storage and retrieval system that uses robotics to maximise picking productivity whilst increasing storage density. It is designed to avoid one of the most common problems with warehouse automation historically – lack of flexibility. Our scalable system helps businesses adapt to ever-changing supply chain demands and can be installed in a warehouse in a matter of months, not years.
Which industry sectors are your customers in and which ones are growing fastest?
We cater to sectors including traditional retail, e-Commerce, grocery, industrials, third-party logistics (3PL), and healthcare. Examples of our partnerships include Carrefour, UNIQLO, Gap, Decathlon, iForce, and Alliance Automotive Group (AAG) UK and France.
As our business continues to grow at pace in 2023, we have seen substantial sector growth within the automotive and spare parts industry as well as fashion.
What are your most recent product innovations?
At the start of 2023, we announced three new innovative products to our portfolio, including Skypath, our new plug and play conveyor system, Skypicker, our improved automatic picking solution, and our new warehouse control software (WCS), Deepsky. All of these new products integrate with our already-established Skypod system.
Skypicker is a robotic arm that allows warehouses to quickly automate the order preparation process. It can be paired with Skypath, our smart conveyor system that can be easily reconfigured and adapted, as changes are required in the warehouse.
Behind our seamless system is Deepsky, our end-to-end warehouse software that conducts every element of the Skypod system and coordinates it with third-party equipment.
These new products accentuate our signature modular design that allows customers to continue meeting their business needs while easily adding new solutions to their existing systems as they grow. We always design our products with a vision of creating a warehouse environment in which people are empowered to work smarter, not harder, using robotics – and these products bring that vision to reality.
What are the major trends and developments affecting your industry and your customers, and how are you responding?
Existing manual warehouse operations are now causing real issues and concern for traditional retailers and e-Commerce companies alike, due to the risks and costs associated with labour shortages. We are seeing a lot of these customers asking their 3PLs to explore options for advanced automation in their warehouse to achieve a step change improvement in their productivity. We are helping 3PLs by providing quick design services and guaranteed performance SLAs so they can provide their retail customers with highly efficient and productive proposals.
We are also seeing retailers replenishing stores more frequently and with smaller quantities. For example, replenishing stock at unit level rather than case level to make the best use of floor space instore, whilst avoiding the risk of stock outs.
Can you tell us about any recent customer contracts and how you helped the customer meet their challenges?
Recently, we had the privilege of signing a contract with AAG’s UK operation. AAG is part of the largest automotive aftermarket company in the world, operating across Europe, North America and Australasia. This win is the second system we are supplying to AAG in Europe, and the latest milestone in our expansion of our presence in the UK market.
AAG UK’s warehouse will feature the complete suite of our new solutions, including the Skypod and Skypicker systems, our new Deepsky software and 1,700 metres of Skypath conveyor technology. Our systems and products will provide AAG UK with a fully automated warehouse that is simple, flexible, and scalable – which will allow for seamless delivery and growth potential as they continue to expand their business in the UK.
How does business in 2023 compare to previous years? What’s your strategy for succeeding in the current climate?
Exotec currently holds 8th position in the FT’s fastest-growing businesses in Europe and we are continuing to see significant growth in 2023. Our future strategy doesn’t deviate much from our tried and tested approach which is proving successful. We are also continuing our focus on research and development (R&D), which will ensure we can provide comprehensive solutions for our customers that will allow us to act as a full integrator as we do with our customer Decathlon.
Currently, less than 20% of the world’s warehouses are robotised while performance needs are increasing and labour shortages are a growing concern. We are addressing a real need as the logistics industry continues to invest in high-performance solutions. Our strategy relies on our desire to fully understand our customers’ individual challenges and aspirations, and our ability to configure our solutions to meet these specific challenges, today and in the future.
What’s the latest news from your company?
In late May, Manhattan Associates awarded Exotec the 2023 MVP Excellence Award in the Technology & Solution category for the innovative work we have been doing with AAG France, France’s largest independent distributor of truck and automotive parts. Manhattan Associates presented our team with the award at Momentum 2023, the company’s annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
Can you tell us about any areas where you’re currently making technical advances eg safety, sustainability, and environment?
At Exotec, we are continuously working on improvements to the lifecycle of our products. We are also always looking to work with suppliers that are local and have a similar environmental vision as us. As previously mentioned, we announced the launch of three new products at the start of 2023 that were built with both their safety and environmental impact in mind.
Are you investing in staff training and skills development?
At Exotec, we increasingly see how important it is to train and provide learning opportunities for our employees. It is for that reason in 2022, we created a department that is dedicated to learning and development. This team of experts provides learning courses that encompass training, mentoring, coaching, and peer-mentoring so that new employees can be operational in their jobs as quickly as possible. The department also oversees the development of career mobility and prepares staff for the future by advancing their skills through training.
An example of the department in action is this past Environment Day. The department created various climate awareness workshops to educate and build understanding on climate change within the business, with an emphasis on showcasing our responsibility as a company to raise awareness and do our part.
Are you taking part in any major trade shows? Can you tell us what you’ll be exhibiting there?
This year we have attended several global and national trade shows. So far in 2023, we have exhibited and or spoken at LogiMAT, Modex, Intralogistex, Deliver and Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo. At the Gartner conference, AAG UK made a presentation about their business transformation and the key role their new Exotec equipped warehouse will play in this.
At each show, we were able to exhibit our innovative solutions in warehouse automation – including our new product portfolio of Skypicker, Skypath, and Deepsky along with our Skypod System in action.
Exotec
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