Aeon brings its first fully automated sort-to-stack logistics centre online in Saitama
Aeon has switched on a Kawaguchi logistics centre that automates the full run from sorting to stacking for the first time at the retailer, a labour-saving bet built with robotics partner Mujin that will eventually show up in shelf costs and availability across Japan's largest supermarket network.
Aeon Co., Ltd. said its Kawaguchi-Higashi XD logistics centre (イオン川口東XD) in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, began full operation on October 29, calling it the first Aeon facility to automate the entire run from sorting through stacking in a single sequence.
The centre was built with Aeon Global SCM Co., Ltd. and robotics specialist Mujin, Inc., extending a partnership the two companies announced in October 2023, according to Aeon. The retailer positions Kawaguchi-Higashi XD as the model for what it calls its next-generation automated distribution centres, part of a wider rebuild of Aeon's logistics network.
Three years passed between Aeon's automation tie-up with Mujin and this, its first facility to run the full sort-to-stack sequence without manual handling -- a reminder of how much integration work sits between announcing a robotics partnership and putting it on a warehouse floor. Aeon is Japan's largest retail group by sales, so a labour model that works at Kawaguchi-Higashi XD is the kind of change that eventually reaches shelf costs and availability at supermarkets nationwide, long before most shoppers notice who packed the truck.