THG Ingenuity’s fulfilment and courier management division, THG Fulfil, has partnered with robotics provider Libiao to install 430 of its T-sorting robots at the company’s automated warehouse facility in Manchester.
The robots are expected to be operational by September 2025 and will enable THG Fulfil to process approximately one million units per day. The company forecasts that this will boost operational capacity by around 75%.
THG claims the T-sorting system offers a sorting accuracy of up to 99.9% and will help the business “adapt to fluctuating consumer demand, regardless of seasonality.”
The system simultaneously sort for multiple destinations, with “electroplating robots operating on optimal paths to maximise sorting efficiency.”
The company also stated that the system allows for rapid deployment for brands and retailers and contributes to a fast and high return on investment, “resulting in a typical return period of less than three years.”
“Every second counts”: THG’s COO
THG Ingenuity’s chief operating officer, Tom Killeen, likened the company’s approach to fulfilment services to a Formula 1 race, “where every second counts.”
“So, when we were in the market looking to enhance our capabilities, this was at the forefront of our minds,” he said.
Killeen revealed that the company trialled Libiao Robotics for six months and found it delivered the best return on investment.
“They allow us to scale our outbound capability substantially and eliminate those seconds we were looking to save,” he added.
Human-machine collaboration at the core of THG’s strategy
Killeen emphasised that human-machine collaboration is essential for THG and will continue to grow.
“We’ve seen record attrition levels over the past few years as we transition more of our team members to focus on more ‘meaningful’ tasks,” he said.
“The primary goal is to increase speed to consumers on behalf of our clients, while also enabling us to augment various operational services for our customers.”
95 % of units now experience automation
Killeen noted that 95% of all units sold via THG pass through “some form of automation, combined with our late next-day delivery cut-off times of up to 1am.”
Looking ahead, he said THG will “continue developing the proprietary software that powers all efficiency gains across our network.”
“Automation will only get you so far; it’s the constant optimisation of automation where you find gold,” he concluded.
