AutoStore Holdings Ltd. today opened its new assembly facility in Rayong Province, Thailand. The company said this will help it serve markets for its automated storage and retrieval system, or ASRS, in Japan, South Korea, and the U.S.
“Until last summer, we were producing all our systems in a small, 60,000 sq. ft. [5,574 sq. m] facility in Poland,” said Israel Losada Salvador, chief operating officer at AutoStore. “Then last summer, we expanded our footprint and moved to 400,000 sq. ft. [37,161 sq. m]. Our facility in Thailand is 270,000 sq. ft. [25,083 sq. m].”
Why Thailand? “We wanted a facility in Asia,” Salvador told Automated Warehouse. “We have standard global pricing — regardless of where you buy the robot, you pay the same amount. Southeast Asia already has a lot of industry, and it offers access to a good workforce, which is critical to success.”
AutoStore considered other countries, including Malaysia and Vietnam, but local and central governments made setting up business more complex, he said.
“In Thailand, we found a workforce around Tier 1 and 2 automotive manufacturing and a location close to the harbor and airport,” Salvador explained. “Thailand will serve APAC [Asia-Pacific] and the U.S. West Coast, as Poland serves Europe and the East Coast.”
Automated storage can help a wider range of businesses
Founded in 1996, AutoStore said it has developed ASRS hardware and software for order fulfillment that is interoperable with third-party systems. The company, which has offices in Nedre Vats, Norway, among other locations, has sold more than 1,400 systems in 54 countries.
In the U.S. alone, AutoStore said 232 systems and 17,000 robots are already in operation. Brands such as Puma, Gucci, Best Buy, and IKEA use AutoStore’s technology to meet e-commerce demand more efficiently than with manual retrieval from shelves.
AutoStore said its cube-based modular storage can accelerate order fulfillment, maximize warehouse space utilization, and improve operational efficiency. A network of partner integrators distributes, installs, and services its systems. AutoStore recently announced its Pio P100 system for small and midsize businesses (SMBs).
“We recognized criticisms of ASRS as a big capital expenditure for SMBs, but in reality, we have a pretty wide range, from systems with a few thousand bins to systems with 1 million bins,” said Salvador. “With Pio, we’re catering to smaller businesses located in big cities and high-cost countries, where available real estate is limited, as is labor. The P100 is a ‘warehouse in a box’ ready to go.”
AutoStore invests in U.S., global growth
AutoStore said it expects the new factory in Thailand to create about 80 jobs in its first year, with plans to increase to 200 to 300 employees by 2026. Within the first year, the ASRS maker aims to produce 15,000 robots—doubling its current capacity to meet customer demand in North America.
AutoStore initially decided to set up production in Poland rather than Asia, which helped it during supply chain challenges around the COVID-19 pandemic. It then put a “tiger team” in Thailand almost a full year before deciding where to put its facility there.
“We knew getting suppliers and parts approved and validated would take time, but we’ve seen double-digit improvements in gross margins,” said Salvador.
“The market was challenging from 2020 to 2023, but we’ve invested in inventory to grow,” he said. “We’ve grown from one production line to three, and our goal for business continuity is to produce the exact same products in both facilities. Thailand is starting with one product. By 2026, we’ll have perfect replication between sites.”
AutoStore also noted the expansion of several customer partnerships, including with Northfield, Ill.-based medical supply leader Medline.
“The U.S. is the fastest-growing region for us,” said Salvador. “We have an R&D center in Denver for our QubIt fulfillment software and a warehouse in Hatfield, Pa., to quickly respond to North American needs. When I came in two years ago, our lead time was 34 weeks; now, it’s 20 weeks.”