Yusen Logistics partners with Pickle Robot to streamline container unloading

Yusen Logistics Inc., the America's organization of a leading global supply chain logistics company, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Pickle Robot Company, a provider of a robotic system which can autonomously unload cartons from containers or trailers. The partnership kicks off with the integration of Pickle Unload systems at Yusen's Contract Logistics Group transloading operation in Long Beach, California, Pickle Robot stated.

The solution not only eases the physical workload for Yusen Logistics employees but also enhances service reliability, the companies explained. In the logistics industry, transloading, the manual unloading of huge amounts of cargo from ocean containers, is strenuous, dirty, occasionally hazardous, and increasingly challenging for employees, Pickle Robot added.

Pickle Robots began working alongside Yusen associates in September, focusing on processing import freight at the Long Beach transload facility. This collaboration marks the beginning of a strategic alliance, with Yusen deploying Pickle Unload Systems under Robotics as a Service (RaaS) terms. This allows Yusen Logistics to benefit from real-world implementations today while gaining early access to advanced Pickle Robot capabilities as they develop, Pickle Robot noted.

John Rae, VP of Operations for Yusen’s Contract Logistics Group, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration: "We are thrilled about this partnership with Pickle Robot Company," said Rae. "It aligns with our commitment to innovation, improving our employees' work environment, and delivering exceptional service to our customers. The pilot program is ideal, considering the substantial 200,000+ ocean freight containers we transload annually. That level of volume demands automation solutions to help us reduce the amount of physically demanding, labor-intensive tasks for our team members. The Pickle Robot Unload System is a game-changer that will revolutionize our operations."

The system approach is a good match for Yusen's freight characteristics, said AJ Meyer, Founder and CEO of Pickle Robot Company. “Yusen Logistics has a fantastic application for Pickle robots because a meaningful portion of their freight is robot eligible today, and there is instant access to just about any type of freight you can imagine as we roll out new capabilities.

“We couldn’t ask for a better partner," Meyer continued. "The number of containers and the breadth of merchandise Yusen processes daily is astounding, and their team is game to see how far and how fast we can unlock even more value for them as we execute our product roadmap.”