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The acquisition comes months after Amazon unveiled its first fully autonomous warehouse robot.
Amazon is acquiring Belgian robotics company Cloostermans to innovate and deploy new technologies in its warehouses.
Announced on Friday (9 September), Amazon said that the deal will help support its supply chain employees, improve safety at work and reduce packaging waste.
Cloostermans has been working with Amazon since 2019. The Belgian company designs and manufactures advanced robots that help the e-commerce giant move and stack heavy pallets and totes or package products together for customer delivery.
“Amazon’s investments in robotics and technology are supporting how we build a better and safer workplace for our employees and deliver for our customers,” said Ian Simpson, vice-president of global robotics at Amazon.
“As we continue to broaden and accelerate the robotics and technology we design, engineer and deploy across our operations, we look forward to welcoming Cloostermans to Amazon and are excited to see what we can build together.”
Amazon has also been developing its own logistics tech. It unveiled its first fully autonomous warehouse robot Proteus back in June, designed to lift and move wheeled transport units around warehouses.
Following the acquisition, around 200 Cloostermans employees will join Amazon Robotics, the division that is working to automate parts of Amazon’s warehouse service. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
This represents further growth for Amazon Robotics in Europe. Last year, the company launched the European Innovation Lab in Italy, which focuses on new ergonomic technologies.
“We’re thrilled to be joining the Amazon family and extending the impact we can have at a global scale,” said Frederik Berckmoes-Joos, CEO of Cloostermans.
“Amazon has raised the bar for how supply chain technologies can benefit employees and customers, and we’re looking forward to be part of the next chapter of this innovation.”
Earlier this year, Amazon launched a $1bn industrial innovation fund for wearables and robotics start-ups in the logistics and supply chain space. It planned to provide $125,000 in cash and up to $100,000 in AWS credits to these founders of early-stage start-ups, as well as training, mentoring and technical guidance.
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