Ikea taps autonomous and sustainability solutions at new customer distribution centres in China

Ikea Retail (Ingka Group) is opening a new customer distribution centre (CDC) in Tiajin, located outside Beijing, in China.

This is approximately 46,240 square metres in size, with a storage capacity of 25,000 cubic metres, and will house more than 9,500 Ikea products.

The objective is to get closer to the northern customers of Beijing, both physically with new customer meeting touchpoints and through online services, with convenient delivery options.

Aligning with Ikea’s People and Planet Positive strategy and China’s sustainability development goals, the CDC is working on deploying such features as 100% lithium battery forklifts, an energy efficient LED lighting system, and a roof solar system that is projected to reduce approximately 3,312.94 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, which is equivalent to planting 184,000 trees per year.

Furthermore, the CDC features a rainwater collection pool that will result in annual water savings of around 2,000 tons, and as part of the global shift towards electric vehicles, it also offers 12 charging points for electrical truck delivery vehicles.

The facility will also test several automation solutions that look to enhance operational efficiency, picking accuracy, and overall quality. The introduction of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) into warehouse operations will reduce the need for manual picking.

Ikea is also testing an auto packing system at the Central Parcel Unit (CPU) in Shanghai.