Tim Steiner

Steiner showed that grocery e-commerce can work at scale when picking is automated in dedicated warehouses, and Ocado's grid-based robots are a leading example of high-density automation. Ocado's customer fulfillment centers use fleets of robots moving on top of a storage grid to bring crates to pick stations. Instead of only selling groceries, Ocado licenses the system to retailers such as Kroger in the US. Brands and grocers evaluating dense automated storage weigh the same questions Ocado faced: high upfront cost, the volume needed to justify it, and how well it handles many SKUs and temperature zones.

• Automated Storage and Retrieval SystemAS/RSMachines that store and fetch totes or pallets
• Goods-to-PersonGTPAutomation brings stock to the picker
• Micro-Fulfillment CenterMFCSmall urban site for fast local delivery

• Ocado-Kroger Partnership2018 · Kroger plans robotic grocery centers with Ocado
• Webvan1999–2001 · An online grocer builds costly warehouses and fails

1. Tim Steiner (businessman) (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
2. Movers and Shakers in Retail: Tim Steiner, Founder and CEO, Ocado (Retail Insider) retailinsider.com