SoftBank Group and Symbotic, an A.I.-powered automation technology for the supply chain, announced the establishment of GreenBox Systems LLC, a new joint venture to address the more than $500 billion annual warehouse-as-a-service market opportunity.
Concurrently, Symbotic also announced an approximately $7.5 billion new customer contract with GreenBox, which will be the exclusive provider of Symbotic systems in the warehouse-as-a-service market and will make supply chain services available to customers.
GreenBox will automate supply chain networks globally by operating and making accessible Symbotic’s advanced A.I. and automation technology for the warehouse.
Symbotic’s A.I.-powered robotics and software technology will be the cornerstone of GreenBox, installed in single and multi-tenant facilities. The efficiency, SKU agility, scalability, and density of the Symbotic system allow GreenBox to effectively manage single and multi-tenant facilities across the supply chain and thus fundamentally reshape the economics of automated supply chain services.
Enabled by these technologies, GreenBox customers will be able to reduce inventory and costs while boosting SKU count and agility, all without associated capital expenditures and operational complexity.
“We are pleased to partner with SoftBank in this venture that accelerates our shared vision to transform the supply chain,” said Rick Cohen, Symbotic’s Chairman and CEO. “GreenBox enables Symbotic to bring the benefits of our technology to a broader customer universe, expanding our market opportunity.”
“GreenBox taps into the powerful potential of A.I. and other enabling technologies in supply chains, while also making the benefits of automation accessible to more businesses through an ‘as-a-service’ offering. In partnership with Symbotic, GreenBox will equip customers with more intelligent, streamlined, and scalable warehousing solutions while eliminating the burden of major capital expenditures,” said Vikas J. Parekh, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.
GreenBox will order Symbotic’s systems over a six-year period commencing in fiscal year 2024, to be implemented across its warehouse network in larger-scale deployments than Symbotic’s current installed base systems.
