Seventeen AGVs and 90% Automated Case Handling in a Tokyo Distribution Center

Case flow that depended on people walking aisles

Case handling sits at the center of a distribution center's throughput. Each case has to be picked, moved and built into a pallet in the right order, and when that work depends on people walking aisles all shift, staffing levels set the ceiling on output.

A central branch in the Tokyo area set out to change that balance. The goal reported for the site was to automate most of its case-handling volume and cut the number of people needed for picking, while keeping staff on hand for supervision and exceptions.

A change like this touches floor layout, traffic between machines and people, and the handoffs between automated and manual steps. That is where most of the planning effort tends to go, long before any hardware arrives.

AGVs and case-handling arms working one flow

The workflow, as the robot supplier describes it, combined robotic case picking and palletizing with autonomous transport. Seventeen AGVs moved cases and loads, and the arm-based picking and palletizing work was fed by that movement rather than by manual carrying.

The deployment is a running workflow at the named branch, not a demonstration. People still supervise it, and the robot supplier is explicit that this is not an unattended warehouse.

Dematic's AGV solutions page, as of June 2026, lists receiving, warehousing, transferring and shipping materials among typical AGV applications. A rollout of this scale would normally follow a sequence along these lines.

• Map the case flow, dock points and human handoffs before any robot is placed
• Select AGVs and case-handling arms by load profile, and confirm how they will share the floor
• Coordinate fleet traffic and arm cells so cases reach each station on time
• Train supervisors and staff on exception handling and on recovery when a unit stops
• Keep service and spare coverage in place so one failed unit does not stop the line

What the figures do and do not establish

The headline numbers come from vendor reporting. About 90% of case-handling volume is described as automated, and the picking staffing change from four people to one is presented as a target, not a measured result.

The account gives no measurement period for that staffing target, and productive hours were not disclosed. The case therefore rests on the staffing change and vendor reporting, and readers should weigh it that way before planning around a headcount figure.

What the account does establish is a physical picture: 17 AGVs, arm-based picking and palletizing, and a floor where most case handling no longer depends on manual picking, with people still in the loop for supervision.

What a deployment like this asks of an integrator

Most warehouse buyers do not need a particular robot. They need a case flow that holds up on a night shift, a supplier who answers the phone, and a way to add capacity without a second shutdown. That is the work of an integrator, and it is the part a single manufacturer rarely covers across brands.

Service Robot Co. is a full-service, OEM-neutral commercial robot integrator for US businesses. We select the right robots across manufacturers, then finance, deploy, integrate, train and service every unit through a nationwide US engineer network, so one partner handles the whole lifecycle. Robots reach a customer through a 3-year lease, with one fixed payment quoted after a site assessment.

For a warehouse weighing a mixed fleet of AGVs and case-handling arms, that means site assessment mapping first, phased deployment with no shutdown, go-live support, and a robot maintenance service plan with spare unit coverage. The aim is a case flow the operation can run every day, not a demo that impresses on day one.