AutoStore Powers Arvato’s Global, High-Speed Fulfillment Growth

Arvato is a global provider of supply chain management and fulfillment solutions for leading brands across fashion, beauty, tech, healthcare, and consumer goods. With a broad automation footprint, the company now operates 15 AutoStore systems worldwide, 5 empowered by Kardex and 10 empowered by Swisslog.

This extensive network demonstrates Arvato’s experience deploying AutoStore to support fast-moving operations, high throughput, and scalable growth across multiple regions.

At the Hams Hall site in Birmingham, Arvato recently expanded its existing AutoStore system to support rising demand from fast-growing consumer brands. The expansion, empowered by Kardex, delivered significantly higher throughput, speed, and storage density with minimal operational disruption.

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The Challenge: Meeting Fast-Moving Client Demands

To onboard a rapidly growing international apparel brand, Arvato needed to:

• Increase throughput to manage high daily order volumes
• Expand storage density within a limited footprint
• Scale quickly without interrupting active warehouse operations
• Maintain fast fulfillment speeds under peak demand
• Ensure the system could support future volume growth

With fast-paced B2C e-commerce requirements and strict service-level expectations, Arvato needed a solution proven for both speed and scalability.

The Solution: High-Density Automation for Scalable Fulfillment

AutoStore forms the core of Arvato’s automated operations at Hams Hall, delivering high-density storage, fast retrieval, and high-throughput order processing.

The 2025 expansion, upgraded system performance to meet rising customer volumes and accelerate fulfillment.

Grid and Robots

• Bin (tote) count increased from 65,000 to 87,600
• Robot fleet increased from 130 to 165 AutoStore R5 Robots
• Total storage capacity reached ~1.2 million units

Ports (Workstations)

• Additional Ports (Workstations) added to support higher peak throughput
• Ports configured for fast picking and efficient replenishment

Integration

• AutoStore integrated with Arvato’s Warehouse Control System
• Ensured synchronized workflows and accurate item retrieval
• Provided real-time visibility across fulfillment operations

Speed of Deployment

• Initial UK installation (2023): 7 months
• Latest expansion (2025): just over 3 months

This showcases the strength of Arvato’s automation strategy, supported by Kardex’s efficient implementation and AutoStore’s modular design, enabling fast and seamless expansion.

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Key Benefits: Speed, Capacity, and High Throughput

The expansion of Arvato’s AutoStore system has delivered significant performance gains, enabling the Hams Hall site to operate with greater speed, higher throughput, and improved flexibility. These enhancements allow Arvato to continue meeting the rising expectations of consumer brands while maintaining exceptional service levels across fast-growing e-commerce channels.
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Key benefits include:

• ‍30% capacity increase: Greater inventory storage within the same footprint, enabling stronger availability and reduced replenishment cycles.‍
• 26,000+ orders/day during peak: High-speed fulfillment supported by the expanded Robot fleet and additional Ports — essential for fast-moving consumer demand.‍
• Rapid scalability: A just-over-three-month expansion timeline enabled Arvato to respond quickly to growing customer needs and market opportunities.‍
• Faster workflows: Optimized picking and replenishment reduce processing times and enhance overall throughput during both steady-state and peak periods.‍
• Future-ready flexibility: The system can easily scale through additional Robots, Ports, or further Grid extensions as volumes expand.‍
• Reliable and efficient operations: Strong uptime, stable performance, and automation-driven accuracy support high service quality and operational resilience.

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AutoStore Supports Arvato’s Long-Term Growth Strategy

Together, the Hams Hall expansion and Arvato’s broader automation footprint illustrate how AutoStore supports Arvato's fast, scalable, and high-throughput fulfillment globally.

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Arvato’s 15-site AutoStore network underscores the company’s deep experience with fulfillment automation across multiple industries and regions. One example is Arvato’s AutoStore installation in Memphis, USA, empowered by Swisslog, where the system has significantly increased throughput, storage density, and inventory control for a healthcare client.

Together, the successful expansion at Hams Hall and Arvato’s broader global footprint demonstrate how AutoStore enables fast, scalable, and high-throughput fulfillment. This combination of speed, density, and flexibility ensures that Arvato can continue supporting its customers’ growth while building a resilient, future-ready logistics network.

Project Specifications

Hams Hall, United Kingdom (Expansion 2025)

Installation type: Brownfield expansion
Robots: 165 R5 Robots
Workstations (Ports): Expanded inbound and outbound configuration
Bins: 87,600 Bins
Storage capacity: ~1.2 million units
Peak picking capacity: 26,000+ orders/day
Peak outbound units: 90,000+ units/day
Implementation timeline: 7 months for the initial system installation in 2023, 3 months for the 2025 expansion of the system