As labour costs rise and volumes grow, the gap between traditional picking methods and what a modern warehouse needs is widening. At Breathe Technologies, this is the problem Pick IQ was built to solve. Rather than replacing the WMS platforms customers already run, it connects via API and sits above them as an intelligent optimisation layer, receiving pick tasks, applying spatial batching and AI-driven sequencing, and returning fully optimised pick lists for native execution.
This article was first published in the September 15th 2026 issue of Warehouse & Logistics News, subscribe to the magazine by clicking here.
Together with DFT and the KNAPP Group, Matalan continuously expanded its automation landscape, starting with a DFT EcoPocket® sorter and later with a KNAPP Evo Shuttle™ as operational requirements evolved. According to published project information, Matalan achieved 99.8% order accuracy, improved fulfilment performance and extended next-day delivery order cut-off times by six hours. Supported by the combination of DFT sorting technology and KNAPP warehouse automation solutions, the operation is now capable of processing up to 100,000 orders per day.
At SEW-EURODRIVE’s production site in Graben-Neudorf, Germany, a fully automated production buffer warehouse demonstrates how sensing technology can provide the intelligence needed to connect these processes safely and accurately. Leuze sensor technology plays a role across multiple stages of the warehouse operation, beginning where mobile robots deliver materials to the storage system. Two RSL 400 safety laser scanners are installed above each material transfer station. Their vertical protective fields secure access to the system and allow the mobile robot to enter once it has successfully registered.
Brightpick, a leading provider of AI-powered warehouse automation, is significantly expanding its partnership with Dr. Max Group, Europe’s largest pharmacy chain. Following successful operations and progressive scaling at Dr. Max’s Prague distribution centre, Brightpick will deploy an additional 44 Autopicker autonomous mobile robots across other facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The total number of deployed robots operating across the group will thus reach 74 units.
Fronius partnered with KNAPP to implement an intelligent automation solution centred around a fleet of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The deployment included 16 Open Shuttle Fork robots for pallet transport and 11 Open Shuttles for load [AA1] handling, creating a fully connected material flow between goods-in, storage locations and production cells. The result is a streamlined logistics operation that ensures materials are available precisely when and where they are needed, supporting production continuity while reducing manual transport requirements.
With online shopping a huge business, customers wanting orders delivered the same day and warehouses face a severe shortage of workers, the demand for warehouse order picking systems is growing fast.
George Simpson
Features Editor
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