- The showcase project in Daventry will set new standards in innovation and efficiency in the grocery retail sector.
- Automation minimizes manual operational steps, improves picking precision and significantly reduces logistics costs.
- Robotics as an enabler: robots will handle a variety of tasks, including transport, storage and retrieval of goods and completion of Roll Cages.
The retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) and TGW Logistics recently signed a contract for an unparalleled project. This marks one of the most significant orders in the intralogistics specialist’s 55-year history. In Daventry (Northamptonshire, UK), a new future-proof grocery fulfillment center with two temperature zones will be completed by the spring of 2029. Robots will handle key tasks from transport to storage and retrieval to roll cage building, enabling maximum efficiency.
Marks & Spencer is one of Great Britain’s leading retailers. Customers can go online or to one of over 1,000 stores to buy clothing, groceries and homeware. Founded in 1884, the company now has 65,000 employees and generated a revenue of 13.9 billion pounds in the last business year.
Benchmark for innovation and performance
TGW Logistics is building a showcase project in Daventry – roughly 100 kilometers north of London – for Marks & Spencer’s grocery division M&S Food; the project is scheduled for completion by the spring of 2029. This Distribution Center will set the bar for innovation and efficiency, and will be the new benchmark for shop replenishment in Great Britain. Thanks to intelligent automation, M&S will be able to significantly reduce its manual operational steps and increase picking precision. This will lower logistics costs for the long term as well as improving customer service.
Robotics as the key to maximum efficiency
The fulfilment center will be divided into an ambient temperature area and a chilled area. The ambient area will include a high-bay pallet warehouse and a tray-based shuttle system, supported by a fleet of autonomous robots handling the transport of pallets from goods receiving into storage, additional robots will manage the automatic compilation of roll cages for store replenishment. The chilled area will feature a high-performance shuttle system buffering and sequencing trays to automated dolly building machines. Both zones will be interconnected by an energy-efficient conveyor network.
Start of a shared journey towards automation
“We are delighted to be accompanying Marks & Spencer as a partner on their automation journey,” affirms Joel Garbutt, Chief Sales Officer for the Customer Unit North Europe at TGW Logistics. “Together, we have developed a solution that is geared to the future requirements of grocery retail and will set new standards in innovation and efficiency. TGW technology will enable and support the long-term growth of M&S Food.”
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