Case Study: NEXT achieves rapid growth and streamlined fulfilment with Körber AG's fully automated distribution center

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NEXT, a global clothing and home products retailer with about 700 stores, needed to modernize and scale its Doncaster warehouses to cut costs, reduce product damage, and move from manual picking to a fully automated operation. NEXT engaged Körber AG (Körber Supply Chain) for a turnkey automated distribution center, leveraging technologies such as RGVs, an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), pallet building systems, picking stations, and WCS/SCADA monitoring.

Körber AG implemented an integrated solution linking two Doncaster warehouses with a ~1.5 km track, 81 RGVs, 23 stacker cranes and storage for 77,000 pallets (27,000 + 50,000), enabling handling rates up to 1,350 pallets per hour. The system streamlined supply and routing, improved maintenance and uptime via SCADA, reduced handling costs and product damage, and strengthened NEXT’s operational efficiency and capacity for growth.

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Ryan Loska

Engineering Manager