Darkstore automation
The store that
picks itself.
Automated storage and retrieval for quick commerce. Shelves come to people, not people to shelves.
Plan your darkstore
Chapter I · The problem
A darkstore promises minutes.
Its pickers spend them walking.
The order arrives as data in a second. Then someone walks an aisle, searches a shelf and walks back. More orders mean more pickers, more aisles and more rent, in the most expensive part of the city.
Chapter II · The idea
Goods
to person.
An ASRS keeps inventory in a dense, vertical grid of totes. Robots fetch the right tote and bring it to a pick station, in the order it is needed. The picker stays put. The store moves.
i · StoreBuild up, not out.Totes stack vertically, using the height of the building instead of its floor.
ii · RetrieveThe tote comes to you.Robots deliver totes to the station in sequence, ready before the picker asks.
iii · PickOne tote. One pick.The right item, confirmed at the station. Then the next tote arrives.Chapter III · Why ASRS fits
Small store.
Big catalogue.
DensityMore SKUs, same rentVertical storage holds a bigger catalogue in a small urban footprint.
SpeedNo walkingOrders queue at the station. Pick time becomes the only time.
AccuracyThe right tote, every timeThe system presents one tote and confirms each pick.
PeaksSurges without new aislesAdd robots for evening and festive peaks instead of adding people and space.
ReplenishmentRestock in the backgroundInbound stock flows through the same stations, between orders or overnight.
VisibilityEvery tote, liveInventory tracked in real time and synced to your systems.
Chapter IV · One order
From tap
to rider.
i
Order inReleased by priority and promise time.
ii
RetrieveRobots bring every tote the order needs.
iii
PickGuided picks at one station.
iv
PackBagged and labelled on the spot.
v
OutHanded to the rider.
Chapter V · Built by General Robotics
Mercury
Programmable robotic infrastructure for darkstores. Storage, retrieval and orchestration in one system.
Ask about Mercuryi
Capacity in incrementsStart with what the store needs. Add modules as orders grow.
ii
Fits existing buildingsDesigned for brownfield urban sites, not greenfield warehouses.
iii
One software layerRuns on the same stack as Navi, so storage and sortation speak one language.
iv
Built to be servicedReplaceable modules and remote diagnostics keep the store open.