Kardex to Automate Groupe Madrigall’s New Distribution Center

Kardex has partnered with Groupe Madrigall to design and deploy a high-throughput warehouse automation solution for a newly established distribution center. This cooperation addresses the requirements of the publishing sector by integrating a high-density storage system with automated material handling technologies.

Participating Companies and Roles
Groupe Madrigall, a French publishing group that manages operations for publishing houses such as Gallimard and Flammarion, is consolidating its order picking and shipping activities into a single automated facility. Kardex serves as the systems integrator and technology provider. The partnership addresses the logistical challenge of managing large physical volumes of printed media, a process that requires maximized storage density and continuous order fulfillment capabilities to support an extensive distribution network.

Technical Solution and Responsibilities
The core of the industrial automation project is a robotic storage and retrieval system consisting of approximately 300,000 storage bins and 300 mobile robots. Kardex is responsible for supplying the warehouse control software that functions as the digital infrastructure to manage inventory routing, coordinate robotic tasks, and monitor system performance. Furthermore, the company will integrate peripheral automated material handling equipment, including carton conveying systems and robotic palletizing units.

Deployment and Applications
The solution will be deployed within a centralized distribution center tailored to the publishing industry, with operations scheduled to commence in June 2028 following the completion of administrative approvals. The primary application focuses on high-throughput order fulfillment for book distribution. The operational design targets increased storage capacity per square meter and improved process stability during order consolidation. To support the deployment, Kardex will provide long-term lifecycle services and maintenance, ensuring that mechanical and software components operate within specified technical parameters throughout the life of the system.

Expected Impact
The transition to a centralized, automated facility utilizes robotic retrieval mechanisms to optimize fulfillment speed and accuracy. The integration of software-controlled conveying and palletizing automation standardizes material handling processes, thereby supporting structural operational stability and system maintainability over manual picking methods.

Edited by Natania Lyngdoh, Induportals editor, assisted by AI.

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