Dr. Max Italy x Geek+ — Tote-to-Person Pharmaceutical Fulfillment Center, Telgate, Bergamo
⭐Key Features
- •World's tallest RS8 RoboShuttle system operating in a 12-meter-tall warehouse — maximizing every inch of vertical space
- •P40 mobile robots handle automated storage and retrieval of totes and cartons within the high-density double-deep rack structure
- •2x picking productivity versus pre-automation baseline
- •99.9% order accuracy across pharmaceutical and cosmetics SKUs
- •5x storage capacity improvement through dense double-deep vertical storage
- •Supports various tote and carton types for flexible operations across a broad product portfolio
- •Easy integration into existing warehouse infrastructure — compatible with existing AMRs, workstations, and racks
- •End-to-end omnichannel fulfillment: from automatic order start and picking into cartons to automated shipping preparation including volume reduction and carton sealing
- •Ergonomic operator workstations with intuitive software interface, reducing physical workload for warehouse staff
- •Scalable and replicable solution architecture — already deployed at multiple Dr. Max European sites by SSI Schaefer and Geek+
📊Results & Benefits
- ✓2x picking productivity achieved versus manual baseline
- ✓99.9% order accuracy across a broad pharmaceutical and cosmetics SKU range
- ✓5x storage capacity increase through double-deep high-density vertical tote storage
- ✓First Tote-to-Person deployment in Italy — establishing a new automation benchmark for the Italian pharmaceutical logistics sector
- ✓55% year-over-year e-commerce revenue growth in 2023 supported by the new automated facility
- ✓Same-day delivery capability enabled for end customers and over 210 pharmacies across Italy
- ✓Ergonomic improvement for warehouse operators — intuitive software and goods-to-person workstations significantly reduce physical strain
- ✓Solution replicated across multiple Dr. Max European sites, validating the scalability of the Geek+ and SSI Schaefer joint architecture
🎯Challenges & Solutions
Dr. Max Italy faced rapidly escalating e-commerce demand — 55% year-over-year revenue growth in 2023 — while needing to serve both online customers and over 210 pharmacies across Italy with the fastest possible delivery times. The existing logistics infrastructure could not scale to meet this dual-channel demand without a purpose-built, highly automated fulfillment facility.
SSI Schaefer and Geek+ jointly designed and implemented a new omnichannel fulfillment center in Telgate, Bergamo, purpose-built for pharmaceutical and cosmetics e-commerce and pharmacy replenishment. The facility integrates Geek+'s RS8 RoboShuttle Tote-to-Person system with SSI Schaefer's conveying, handling, and WMS infrastructure, enabling automated order processing from order start through to carton sealing and dispatch — supporting same-day delivery for both e-commerce and pharmacy channels.
The warehouse needed to store a very broad and diverse product portfolio — pharmaceuticals, health products, and cosmetics — with high SKU counts and varying tote and carton formats, while maximizing storage density within the available building footprint. Conventional shelving or fixed AS/RS systems would either waste vertical space or lack the flexibility to handle diverse product formats efficiently.
The Geek+ RS8 RoboShuttle system — the world's tallest RS8 deployment, operating in a 12-meter-tall warehouse — uses P40 mobile robots that move vertically within high-density double-deep racks to store and retrieve totes and cartons of varying types. This architecture achieves 5x the storage capacity of conventional shelving in the same footprint, while the system's support for various tote and carton formats provides the operational flexibility required for Dr. Max's diverse product portfolio.
Operator ergonomics and workforce adoption were identified as critical success factors. A complex or physically demanding system risked low adoption and high error rates among warehouse staff unfamiliar with advanced automation.
Geek+'s goods-to-person workstations bring items to operators rather than requiring operators to travel through the warehouse, eliminating walking and reducing bending. The intuitive software interface minimizes training requirements. Dr. Max's Group Chief Supply Chain Officer specifically cited ergonomic workstations and intuitive software as taking 'a noticeable load off our employees.'
📝Project Overview
Project Overview
Dr. Max is one of Europe's leading pharmaceutical chains, operating around 3,000 pharmacies across 17 countries, an online platform with more than one million customers per month, and selling over two million items per day. In Italy, the company serves both a direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel and over 210 pharmacies with home delivery and click-and-collect services. A 55% year-over-year increase in e-commerce revenue in 2023 made it clear that the existing logistics infrastructure could not keep pace with demand growth. To ensure the fastest possible delivery to end customers and pharmacies throughout Italy, Dr. Max decided to build a new dedicated warehouse in Telgate, Bergamo, specializing in pharmaceutical and cosmetics omnichannel fulfillment.
Dr. Max selected SSI Schaefer as the general contractor and Geek+ as the robot technology partner — a combination that had already been successfully deployed at several of Dr. Max's European sites. The Telgate facility represents the first Tote-to-Person deployment in Italy and features the world's tallest RS8 RoboShuttle system, operating within a 12-meter-tall warehouse that maximizes vertical storage density to an unprecedented degree for the Italian pharmaceutical logistics sector. The project was announced at LogiMAT in Dusseldorf on June 27, 2024.
The new warehouse is designed not only for current e-commerce volumes but also to scale progressively — it will gradually take on pharmacy replenishment deliveries in addition to e-commerce orders as the facility's capacity is fully ramped up. SSI Schaefer's WMS and Geek+'s robot orchestration software provide the operational flexibility to support this phased expansion without requiring fundamental system redesign.
Technical Solution
Geek+ RS8 RoboShuttle — World's Tallest Deployment
The centrepiece of the Telgate facility is the Geek+ RS8 RoboShuttle system — the world's tallest RS8 installation, operating within a 12-meter-tall warehouse structure. The RS8 is Geek+'s highest-reach shuttle robot, designed specifically for high-density vertical storage environments where maximizing the use of building height is the primary design objective. The system uses a double-deep storage architecture, meaning totes and cartons are stored two positions deep within each rack lane, significantly increasing the number of storage locations per square metre of floor space compared to single-deep configurations.
The RS8 robots move vertically within the rack structure, accessing storage locations at any height within the 12-meter envelope and retrieving totes or cartons on demand for delivery to picking workstations. The system supports various tote and carton types, enabling Dr. Max to store its diverse range of pharmaceutical, health, and cosmetics products in the same automated storage structure without requiring format standardization across the entire SKU range.
Momentum WES: Next-Generation Warehouse Execution and Control
Vendor: Honeywell Intelligrated
Key Features
The world's tallest RS8 deployment — operating in a 12-meter-tall warehouse — enables Dr. Max to extract maximum storage capacity from the Telgate facility's building envelope, achieving 5x the storage capacity of conventional shelving in the same footprint. This vertical density is the foundational design principle of the entire facility, making it possible to handle the volume and SKU breadth of Dr. Max's pharmaceutical and cosmetics portfolio without requiring a significantly larger building.
The double-deep storage architecture of the RS8 system compounds this density advantage by storing two totes deep in each rack lane, further increasing the number of storage positions per square metre. Combined with support for various tote and carton types, the system provides the flexibility to accommodate Dr. Max's diverse product range without imposing rigid format standardization requirements on inbound goods.
The 2x picking productivity improvement is delivered through the goods-to-person model, which eliminates travel time from the picking workflow and allows operators to focus entirely on the picking task at ergonomic workstations. The 99.9% order accuracy rate reflects the precision of the automated retrieval and delivery system, which eliminates the location and identification errors that are common in manual pick-and-walk operations.
The solution's scalability and replicability are demonstrated by the fact that SSI Schaefer and Geek+ have already implemented the same joint architecture at multiple Dr. Max European sites. The Telgate deployment is designed with the same replicable architecture, enabling Dr. Max to roll out the solution to additional facilities as the group's European automation strategy expands.
Results & Benefits
The Telgate facility achieved a 2x improvement in picking productivity versus the pre-automation baseline, directly addressing Dr. Max's need to scale order processing capacity in line with 55% year-over-year e-commerce revenue growth. The 99.9% order accuracy rate virtually eliminates picking errors, reducing the cost and customer service impact of mis-picks and returns. The 5x storage capacity increase enables Dr. Max to consolidate a significantly larger inventory volume within the Telgate facility's footprint, supporting the progressive addition of pharmacy replenishment deliveries to the facility's scope without requiring physical expansion.
The facility enables same-day delivery for e-commerce customers and rapid replenishment for over 210 pharmacies across Italy — a service level commitment that was not achievable under the previous manual logistics model. The ergonomic workstation design and intuitive software interface have been explicitly recognized by Dr. Max's Group Chief Supply Chain Officer as taking "a noticeable load off our employees," improving workforce wellbeing and supporting staff retention in a sector where warehouse labor is increasingly difficult to attract and retain.
The success of the Telgate deployment has reinforced Dr. Max's confidence in the Geek+ and SSI Schaefer joint solution architecture as a group-wide automation standard, with Wayne Tai of Geek+ noting that "the replication of Geekplus solutions throughout Dr. Max facilities is proof that warehouse automation with mobile robots is a winning strategy."
System Integrator
SSI Schaefer served as the general contractor for the Dr. Max Telgate project, responsible for the overall system design, integration, and delivery of the complete end-to-end solution. SSI Schaefer provided the conveying systems, handling systems, warehouse management system (WMS), and all supporting infrastructure, integrating these components with Geek+'s RS8 RoboShuttle and P40 mobile robot platform into a unified operational system. SSI Schaefer's project manager Oleg Rak described the joint approach as delivering "a sustainable concept for Dr. Max that sets industry-wide standards and can be flexibly implemented at other sites." The partnership between SSI Schaefer and Geek+ at the Telgate facility builds on a proven joint deployment track record across multiple Dr. Max European sites, with SSI Schaefer's deep WMS and systems integration expertise complementing Geek+'s mobile robot and fleet management technology. ssi-schaefer.com prnewswire.com
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📚Related Knowledge Articles (6)
Goods-to-Person Systems
Goods-to-Person (G2P) systems revolutionize warehouse operations by bringing inventory directly to stationary picking stations, eliminating worker travel time and maximizing productivity. These automated systems combine storage, retrieval, and presentation technologies to create highly efficient picking environments.
Shuttle Systems
Shuttle systems use autonomous vehicles traveling on rails within racking structures to store and retrieve totes or cartons, providing flexible high-density automated storage with scalable throughput.
AMR Goods-to-Person
AMR goods-to-person systems use autonomous mobile robots to transport inventory from storage locations to picking stations, eliminating worker travel time and dramatically improving order fulfillment efficiency.
Small Load Conveyors
Small load conveyors transport individual items, totes, cartons, and packages through warehouses and distribution centers using belt, roller, or slat systems optimized for lightweight products.
Multi-Robot Orchestration
Intelligent fleet management systems that coordinate multiple autonomous robots to work together efficiently, optimizing task allocation, traffic management, and resource utilization across complex warehouse environments.
Sorting Robot
Sorting Robots use mobile autonomous robots equipped with intelligent vision systems and manipulation capabilities to sort packages, parcels, and items with exceptional flexibility. These systems combine AMR technology with advanced AI to enable dynamic sortation without fixed infrastructure, adapting to changing operational needs and handling diverse item types with human-like dexterity.
