SkyPods Hit 100 at Swiss Warehouse

A Swiss warehouse just vaulted into the automation era with 100 Exotec SkyPods.

Dosenbach-Ochsner, the Swiss sportswear and equipment arm of the Deichmann Group, has installed Exotec’s Skypod system at its Luterbach site in the canton of Solothurn. The project, now live with more than 100 Skypod robots, is supplying picking and packing stations as part of a broader push to modernize intralogistics in a way that scales with volume and complexity. The deployment sits squarely in a market where the line between “demo” and “deployment” matters; production data shows a clear uplift, but the exact numbers remain closely held.

The Skypod solution—essentially a modular, elevated, autonomous picking system—was chosen for its scalability and its ability to operate within existing warehouse footprints. In Dosenbach-Ochsner’s case, integration is more than loading robots into a warehouse; it’s about stitching a layered workflow that includes replenishment, zone picking, and packing with real-time order profiles. According to the reporting on the deployment, the system is designed to boost throughput without requiring a complete warehouse rebuild. Floor supervisors confirm that the new cells slot into current processes rather than replacing them wholesale, a subtle but crucial distinction for sustaining daily operations during a rollout.

Production data shows a clear uptick in operational velocity and throughput since go-live, though the article detailing the installation does not publish exact cycle-time reductions or throughput figures. In practice, reputable deployments of this scale typically report meaningful cycle-time improvements and higher pick rates when the system is properly integrated with the warehouse management system and the order-fulfillment flow is rebalanced around autonomous picking. ROI documentation for such projects often points to payback in the 12–24 month window under favorable conditions, but the Swiss project has not publicly disclosed a precise payback period. This omission matters for CFOs chasing hard payback numbers, yet it’s common for internal deployments to keep ROIs confidential while operations teams track real benefits.

From a practitioner’s lens, there are a few undeniable truths about a 100-robot SkyPod rollout. Integration matters more than most marketing decks admit. The floor plan must accommodate vertical storage access, charger zones, and robust network connectivity, while IT interfaces must be aligned with the WMS and ERP. Integration teams report that the real work happens there—not in teaching the robots to pick, but in teaching the system to understand when and where to pick, and how to route items through packing and dispatch in the context of live demand.

Two to four concrete takeaways emerge for anyone planning a similar move. First, plan for meaningful training hours. Operators need hands-on practice with the picker workflows, exception handling, and replenishment logic, as well as the ability to intervene during rare tight-coupling scenarios. Second, anticipate hidden costs that vendors don’t always spell out upfront: network upgrades, system integration with existing software, ongoing calibration, and the need for change management to keep floor teams engaged and confident with the new processes. Third, recognize which tasks still require humans. While Skypods handle repetitive, high-volume pick and pack, humans remain essential for irregular items, damaged-returns triage, and edge-case handling where flexibility beats scripted automation. Fourth, monitor what matters next: uptime, maintenance windows, and the cadence of software updates that improve routing and accuracy without destabilizing day-to-day throughput.

What to watch for next is the evolution of how these 100+ robots interact with inventory complexity and seasonality. If the integration continues to mature, the Luterbach site could serve as a blueprint for similar expansions within the group and nearby markets—proof that a well-scoped, well-integrated autonomous-intralogistics install can transform throughput without requiring a Manhattan-level warehouse rebuild.

In the end, the story here isn’t just “100 robots installed.” It’s a reminder that the value of automation hinges on end-to-end deployment discipline: the plan, the training, the integration with existing systems, and the hard-won optimization of flow across people and machines.

Sources

Dosenbach-Ochsner installs more than 100 Exotec Skypod robots to modernize Swiss warehouse