Robotic picking providers taking things next level

By Roberto Michel, MMH Senior Editor 

With every ProMat I attend, I’m amazed at how many new twists there are in robotic order picking systems, especially those that embed an advanced vision and artificial intelligence (AI) software layer to fully automate the order picking step.

Sure, the new humanoid robots can perform some vision and AI enabled picking and placing, but it’s the established vendors in warehouse robotics, rather than someone just coming to market with its first concept, that drew my attention at ProMat 2025.

The top trend I saw was the established players such as AutoStore and Locus Robotics pushing the boundaries on what their solutions can do, or coming up with entirely new product lines or options to support fully robotic order picking. Here are a few examples:

At AutoStore, which pioneered the robotic automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) that utilize a high-density grid in which the robots bring goods to pickers at workstations. There are more than 1200 companies using this “goods-to-person” approach with AutoStore’s robotic AS/RS, and 1600 sites in total. The company was talking up new improvements to its core system in terms of improved density redesigning elements at the top of the grid, but also quite noticeable at the booth with a demo of robotic picking cell, featuring a smart robotic arm from partner Berkshire Grey, but kitted out in AutoStore red. Robotic picking cells have been integrated with AutoStore systems before, but as a systems integrator-led project. Catch this show coverage for more information.

When it comes the “multi-bot” approach to assistive picking with autonomous mobile robots (AMR), Locus Robotics is a true pioneer and with a large installed base. They had a sizeable booth at ProMat, with much it was devoted to how their existing AMRs speed up order picking alongside human pickers. There are over 350 companies using Locus Robotics’ AMRs, some of them having fleets of hundreds or even a few thousand of the robots, which accelerate picking by human associates because the fleet of AMRs eliminates most of the walking typically involved in manually picking from aisles. This style of collaborative picking remains Locus’s bread and butter, but at ProMat, part of its booth was a dedicated to a walled-off space where on Monday, Locus unveiled Array, which it calls an “AI-powered, zero-touch fulfillment” system. Here’s Modern’s recap article about Array, which will tie into Locus Robotics’ fulfillment software to interoperate with other AMRs from Locus.

Exotec is another established player in robotic AS/RS. A month before ProMat, the global company announced key enhancements to its SkyPod system, including a more compact Skypod robot, as well as the latest generation of Exotec’s “robot to robot” autonomous picking option. And there were other enhancements for enhanced goods-to-person throughput as well, with Exotec explaining the new designs combined with new software features improve throughput at a single workstation by 50% while also enhancing storage density up to 30% compared to the previous generation. One other show note: The latest generation of Skypod nabbed The BOTY or “robot of the year” award at ProMat 2025 from Robot Advisors, an advisory firm that tapped an industry panel to name the finalists. Read about that program here.

At the Attabotics booth, the company’s emphasis was on enhanced software and other enhancements to its robotic AS/RS. The new generation offering is called Fulfill, which uses a many-to-many picking process versus the one-to-one picking method. Many-to-many picking allows warehouse workers to move beyond picking one SKU for one order at a time, to filling multiple lines for multiple orders with multiple units of multiple SKUs in a single machine presentation, the company said. Attabotics also added some put-to-light technology that integrates directly with the AS/RS and the workstations, to further enhance throughput. As Scott Gravell, founder and CEO, states in this ProMat coverage, what matters most for end users is the performance level the operation can expect, which for Fulfill, as Gravelle noted, comes to a “5.4x increase in picking throughput over manual picking with an 80% drop in labor dependency.”

I could go on, but the point is the established players in robotic AS/RS and assistive picking AMRs were showing enhanced solutions and new options, with the zero-touch picking system from Locus Robotics certainly causing some stir at the show.

From the user perspective, the good news here is the increased level of product maturity from established players in warehouse robotics. Overall, there was more attention on fully autonomous picking options or features, in a signal that full automation is not just possible, it’s becoming a standard feature you can configure and use rather than face an integration project. Few companies seem ready to invest in fully lights-out warehouses, but many more might invest in a solution that would make a big slice of their order mix 'robot pickable,' and easy to orchestrate within other systems already tied into the same software.  

On my final day at ProMat, I got the chance to meet with Jan Zizka, Brightpick’s CEO. I asked him in particular what he thought about the robotic picking trends on display at ProMat, and how Brightpick’s relatively new Giraffe robot came about. Brightpick’s system is based on its Autopicker AMRs, which have smart picking and tote handling technology on board each AMR, enabling them to pick goods autonomously in the aisles of a standard aisle set up.

Brightpick had already enhanced its core system with a goods-to-person workstation option, supported by the same Autopickers (each robot has an onboard tablet that displays picking instructions to human pickers), and another robot dedicated to final order consolidation workflows. With Giraffe, Zizka explained, the new robot provides better storage density within a given footprint, since the Giraffes are designed to access higher storage positions and work in unison with the Autopickers.

“Part of it is listening to your customers,” says Zizka. “Greater density is a top question we had been hearing. A user might say, we like the capabilities of these advanced mobile robots and the savings versus manual picking, but what do you have to offer which will increase the storage density of the system?”

With Brightpick, adds Zizka, the different robots and software can act together as unified fulfillment system for multiple processes that need to happen to complete orders, such as either fully robotic or GTP-style picking to pick eaches, order consolidation, and transport of finished orders to outbound packaging and shipping. Enhancing that overall platform for robotic fulfillment , both the hardware and software aspects, is the overriding focus for Brightpick, Zizka says, rather than cooking up some new type of robot which would not have a role in the overall solution.

“We have made it a wider offering because our customers may use us at their overall system—where our technology is the only fulfillment technology they have short of packaging,” Zizka says. “And so, we’ve broadened what we provide because our robots need to be able to cover all the necessary processes. I always tell people the biggest slowdown in adoption of automation is this historical need to integrate and customize everything. I just feel it should be easier for users to apply robotics technology to their core processes.”

Click here to access our full coverage of the show.