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Ocado cancels thousands of orders after robot fire at its Erith site

Ocado cancels thousands of orders after robot fire at its Erith site

Ocado has reportedly canceled thousands of orders following Fridays fire incident at its southeast London-based fulfillment center.

According to reports, the online supermarket stated that the blaze began after three of the company's grocery-picking robots collided at the Erith warehouse, where Ocado processes up to 150,000 orders every week.

Approximately 800 employees were evacuated, and firefighters fought throughout the night to put out the fire.

The firm stated that the fire would interrupt operations but that it was trying to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible. The company believes that the facility will be operational within the next week, and it appreciates its clients' patience.

Moreover, the company expresses its gratitude to all the emergency services, including a special thanks to the London Fire Brigade for their dedication and professionalism in responding to this catastrophe.

According to the Ocado, nobody was hurt in the fire incident, and all of its employees were safe. It stated that the damage was restricted to a small part of its warehouse, but it cannot tell when the facility will reopen.

Hundreds of robots traverse a grid laid out at the Erith site, gathering goods and delivering them to employees who pack them into boxes and load them onto trucks for delivery.

It was the second robot-related fire in Ocado. The first was in 2019, when an electrical failure caused the Andover plant to burn down. At that time this incident was caused by a malfunction in a battery charging device at Ocado's Andover distribution center, which led a robot to catch on fire.

The Andover distribution center, which was responsible for processing 30,000 orders a week was completely destroyed as the fire burned for four days. The facility has been reconstructed. since

Ocado was third-largest online grocer in the UK for 2020. It has experienced massive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 40% rise recorded in its sales within the first three months of the year.

Source credit: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57883332

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