112 Geek+ M200 robots move fresh produce through Hessing’s three-story Greenport Venlo distribution center

VENLO, March 9th, 2022 - Geek+, the global leader in AMR technology, and Hessing Supervers, a specialist in fruit, vegetables, and ready-made meals, have announced the launch of a fleet of 112 autonomous mobile robots in Hessing's Greenport Venlo "factory of the future." The goods moving solution is the largest of its kind in Europe and will boost the distribution center's efficiency, translating directly into less food waste and fresher produce for consumers.

Geek+'s M200 robots connect the discrete processing areas and manage the complex food processing workflow to move a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables through washing, mixing, and packaging stations. An intelligent AI control system features 3D obstacle sensors that detect any potential obstacles that may obstruct the robots' path, while a sophisticated fleet management system controls hundreds of robots at once to optimize moving efficiency and minimize traffic congestion.

Hans Hessing, Director Center of Excellence at Hessing, said: "Hessing has always strived to use innovation to improve the end results for our customers. By automating our distribution center with Geek+'s moving solutions, we've done just that and made a factory of the future. We now can get even more healthy, high-quality food products into supermarkets and onto people's tables and do it more quickly than ever before."

Jan Jongbloets, Managing Director Northern Europe at Geek+ Europe, said: "This project with Hessing is a clear demonstration of how robots can directly improve people's lives. The AMRs that we have deployed in Hessing's distribution center improve the speed and efficiency with which fruits and vegetables can be processed and distributed. We are very proud of how our AMR solutions can contribute to the quality and freshness of food products and help to reduce food waste."

In addition to gains in efficiency and productivity, Geek+'s moving robots operate independently on two levels of the three-storey distribution center to ensure the highest standards of safety both for factory employees and the food products. Geek+ looks forward to developing future solutions with Hessing to allow them to extend their tradition of 50 years of delivering tasty, healthy, quality fruits and vegetables.

About Geek+

Geek+ is a global technology company leading the intelligent logistics revolution. We apply advanced robotics and AI technologies to realize flexible, reliable, and highly efficient solutions for warehouses and supply chain management. Geek+ is trusted by over 500 global industry leaders and has been recognized as the world leader in autonomous mobile robots. Founded in 2015, Geek+ has over 1500 employees, with offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore.

For more information, please visit: https://www.geekplus.com/

About Hessing

The cutting and processing of fruit and vegetables is a specialist skill. Hessing BV has been a specialist in the field for over 50 years. We process fresh raw materials into ready-to-cook vegetables, processed fruit and meal salads, amongst others. We supply these to supermarkets, fast-food chains, wholesalers, catering businesses and inflight caterers. Hessing operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark. Millions of packages of fresh produce are transported from the different production sites every week. Over two thousand people work for Hessing BV in total.

For more information, please visit: https://www.hessingsupervers.nl/