Sereact’s robots now sort Zalando returns in Germany and Poland
Robots from Stuttgart start-up Sereact are now sorting Zalando’s fashion returns in live operations in Germany and Poland. The two-armed machines work at CEVA Logistics sites in Greven, Germany, and Świebodzin, Poland, the three companies said on Wednesday.
It is the first step of a plan to automate returns across Europe. Zalando joined Sereact’s Series B round as a strategic investor in July.
“Returns are the hardest manipulation problem in fashion logistics,” said Ralf Gulde, Sereact’s chief executive and co-founder.
Why returns are hard for robots
Returned clothes often arrive badly packed and crumpled, so no two items look the same. That makes them difficult for robots programmed in advance.
Sereact’s software, called Cortex, lets the robots grasp, identify and sort items they have not seen before. It does not need training for each product or a fixed list of articles, the companies said.
“If a system only works...
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