The Otto Group trading group is working with the US chip giant Nvidia. Nvidia will support the Otto Group in accelerating logistics processes, the German company announced. This week, the industrial group Siemens announced closer cooperation with Nvidia.
The Hamburg company is working on a computer system that trains, connects and controls logistics robots. Sorting systems should also be integrated.
The Otto Group wants to reduce costs with the “Robotic Coordination Layer” system, said the board member responsible for logistics, Kay Schiebur. According to him, no jobs will be lost as a result of the project. According to information, the Otto Group maintains around 120 logistics locations.
Nvidia provides software and hardware
Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, provides the Otto Group with, among other things, software for physics-based simulations as well as graphics processors from its Blackwell series to run these simulations. The companies did not disclose what the Otto Group would pay Nvidia for this.
Nvidia’s vice president for retail, Azita Martin, said on the occasion of the announcement that Nvidia is also working with other retailers, such as Amazon. The Otto Group is the first European retailer to cooperate with.
The system will first be tested in North Rhine-Westphalia
The system will initially be tested in a Hermes Fulfillment logistics center – the company is part of the Otto Group. The logistics center is located in the northeast of North Rhine-Westphalia in the city of Löhne. The service provider Reply created a digital twin of the center, i.e. a virtual image.
The Otto Group is investing a double-digit million amount in the first development phase, the company said. Schiebur said the system’s implementation in wages is estimated to take six to nine months. Other locations will then follow. The long-term vision is to completely digitalize the Otto Group’s warehouse system.