Rhenus and Merck deploy weighed picking trolleys in Strasbourg

Rhenus and Merck have introduced assisted order-picking trolleys at their Strasbourg logistics operation, combining onboard scales, light guidance and camera records in equipment developed with Signature One. The site handles approximately 2,800 orders a day and supports Merck’s Molsheim operation. The new equipment assists manual picking rather than replacing warehouse staff with autonomous machines.

The development is a further stage in a 16-year logistics relationship between the two companies. Rather than replace the picking process with autonomous robots, the partners have equipped a conventional manual handling task with additional measurement and guidance functions. The system is designed to help operators identify the required items, verify selected quantities and retain information that can support a later investigation if an order is disputed.

Up to 30 scales can be incorporated into a single trolley, according to Signature One. The embedded weighing system checks quantities and weights during order preparation, adding a second source of information to the operator’s picking instructions. Where a defined number of units should produce an expected mass, weighing can help identify a discrepancy before the order progresses. It does not eliminate every possible error: products with very similar weights or variable packaging can still require other verification methods.

Light guidance indicates the next picking or placement action, reducing the need for operators to interpret a sequence of written instructions during order preparation. Effective guidance relies on the correct association between the order, physical stock location and trolley compartment. If the underlying item or location record is wrong, a correctly illuminated position does not itself guarantee that the right product has been selected, which is why the weighing check provides a separate control.

Cameras fitted to the trolleys can be used to review order preparation after a customer query. Rhenus describes this as a retrospective checking function, not automatic computer-vision acceptance of each picked item. Neither the image-retention arrangements nor the cameras’ individual contribution to accuracy has been made public. The distinction is operationally important because reviewing a recording after a dispute differs from preventing every error before an order leaves the warehouse.

Colour coding helps staff identify different trolley uses on the warehouse floor, while the ergonomic design supports movement between successive orders. Signature One says fitting as many as 30 scales onto a mobile trolley presented a design challenge involving reliability, cost and integration. Each weighing position also needs to produce a consistent measurement while the equipment is in use; an unexpected weight reading needs a defined process for checking quantity or product selection before the operator proceeds.

The Strasbourg facility operates in a supply chain where errors can create work beyond a simple parcel replacement. Merck’s life science and technology portfolio includes goods ordered by businesses that depend on correct identification and quantities, while its Molsheim operations are supported by the Strasbourg logistics hub. A short pick can require stock investigation and replenishment; an incorrect shipment can lead to additional transport, administration and order correction. These are operational risks rather than claims that a particular error has occurred at the site.

Although the facility handles about 2,800 orders a day, neither partner has stated how many pass through the new trolleys. They have not disclosed a measured before-and-after picking error rate, orders per hour or the cost of implementation. Rhenus says operator feedback has been positive, but that does not establish a quantified productivity gain. The implemented controls can be described precisely without attributing an unmeasured reduction in mistakes to the whole Strasbourg operation.

The partners plan additional links between the picking equipment and warehouse systems, with possible integration into conveyors and packaging machinery as part of a broader order-preparation workflow. The new trolley already combines measurement, guidance and retrospective camera checks at the picking station; planned downstream interfaces should not be presented as functions currently in operation. The broader process extends from receipt of goods through preparation and shipping, so any integration must preserve order identity and quantities as goods move between stages.

A connected picking and packing workflow could reuse confirmed quantities and order identifiers instead of requiring repeated manual entry. Such an arrangement still depends on accurate product data, maintained weighing equipment and controlled exception handling when observed mass differs from the expected value. Investigating those discrepancies may take time, but allowing unverified picks to proceed would weaken the quality-control purpose of the equipment. The partners have not published how exception workflows have been configured.

The partners’ recent work has also addressed transport between the Molsheim plant and Strasbourg site. In 2025 they introduced a logistics shuttle using B100 renewable biodiesel, a separate change to vehicle fuel rather than to warehouse equipment. The trolley project tackles the preparation stage of the same wider distribution chain, showing how improvements to order handling and transport can be pursued independently while still affecting end-to-end service.

The smart trolleys are now deployed at Strasbourg; the companies have not presented them as a trial awaiting installation. Subsequent evidence on deployment scale, error rates and order-processing throughput will show how much the systems improve operations beyond the point of picking. Connections to conveyors, packaging equipment and the wider warehouse software environment are future developments until their implementation is confirmed.