Launching Pio for Industrial and Retail, and introducing Pio Pal

This fall marks a new chapter for us. Pio is now available for two new segments: Industrial, for manufacturing and parts storage, and Retail, for in-store and backroom operations. Pio Pal has also joined the lineup, a standardized robotic picking arm for the P400 to P600 products that keeps your grid picking when no one is working.

Pio was built to make warehouse automation accessible to small and mid-sized businesses. It is a compact system that fits smaller spaces, offered as Robotics-as-a-Service so you can get started without a big upfront investment. Pio started in ecommerce and 3PL, and since then we have piloted it across several new segments. Two of them are now available to everyone.

Pio for Industrial

Pio brings the power of AutoStore into manufacturing and parts storage at a completely new entry point. It is competitively priced against everything else in the segment, with higher performance, greater reliability, and more flexibility to scale. Just as importantly, we built it for how industrial environments actually work:

• No software integration. Inventory and orders come in through simple CSV imports, so you can run Pio without integrating or writing a single line of code. It is an unplugged approach, built for how businesses in this segment actually operate today.

• Native work orders. Create and execute work orders directly inside the app. Combine that with our Kit functionality, and defining assembly kits and executing production becomes simple, all in one system.

• Kit functionality.Combined with work orders, kit functionality makes it straightforward to define assembly kits and execute production runs in one system
• Improved shelf picking. Store large items outside of the Pio grid, and use the Pio App to pick and/or consolidate items stored in shelf locations alongside grid-stored inventory.

Results so good, they won't let us name them.

A U.S. automotive parts manufacturer was the first in the industrial segment to put Pio to work. Here's what they're seeing:

• 330+ order lines picked per hour
• 5x more inventory in the same footprint
• From two shifts to one, and the owner no longer works weekends

They've asked to stay anonymous. They see Pio as a competitive advantage and would rather their competitors didn't find out. They were happy to share their story, though.

Hear it from them below:

Pio is no longer just for ecommerce and 3PLs. This is industrial automation, readily available.

Pio for Retail

With retail seeing increasing costs per square foot and increasing competition for the best customer experience, Pio is the perfect fit for retail with its compact size.

• Fast retrieval. Your team can quickly retrieve products.
• In-store order fulfillment. Customers can scan products in-aisle and have their order packed by the time they reach the register.

We have been running Pio at several live retail sites for the past couple of years, and the experience so far adds up to:

• 50 to 80% smaller storage footprint

• More SKUs per square foot

• Zero shoplifting on goods stored in Pio

• 80% reduction in receiving and shelf replenishment time

• 99.9% picking accuracy

Goody Goody is one of those sites:

Pio Pal

VersaAI, launched last spring, is now available to businesses of all sizes. We have bundled it as a turnkey module under the Pio offering and call it Pio Pal*. Think of it as a picking pal for your team. It bolts onto the P400 to P600 products in the Pio lineup and takes Pio closer to eventually running a lights-out warehouse.

Pio Pal pre-picks orders by adding multiple order lines into one bin that is sent back into Pio, ready to be dispatched. Your team receives the orders, which can then be packed in a fraction of the time compared to regular orders.

This transforms the utilization and performance of Pio. More orders can be fulfilled with the same number of robots and ports, because they work around the clock and use the system to its full potential. With multi-order-line pre-pick, we are seeing 540 order lines picked and packed per hour per person, compared to 170 without Pio Pal. That is 3x faster*, without adding labor at our customer Famme.

*Results vary by order profile, pick density, port availability, and order mix. Theoretical throughput of up to 1,800 OL/hour at 10 OL per order.

Famme has been running it for months now. See their story below.

Introducing the Pio App as a standalone solution for AutoStore

You can now get the Pio App on its own, as an add-on to any AutoStore installation. This is for businesses that want to own their hardware outright but still want proven, ready-to-use software to run their system.

Why Pio

Pio is built to be the most intuitive and accessible way to operate an AutoStore system.

• Easy to use: New operators can startbe picking orders within minutes, which shortens onboarding and makes seasonal staffing easier.
• Easy to integrate: Integration is simple enough that most customers can connect Pio to their own systems themselves, without a long and costly integration project.

Proven in operation

Pio already runs in more than 50 customer systems worldwide, across a wide range of retail and fulfillment use cases. It's cloud-based, API-first, and designed to get the most out of your system. You start with proven workflows and best practices on day one instead of commissioning a custom build.

What this means for the future of warehouse automation

Industrial and Retail make Pio accessible to new businesses, and Pio Pal makes lights-out automation available out of the box. Together, they put the full power of Pio in reach of operations of any size. That is what automation, accessible to anyone, anywhere, looks like.

*Pio Pal is available to the market in Q1, 2027.

Wondering if Pio fits your operation?

New segment or not, we're happy to talk through what Pio could look like for you. No pitch, just answers.

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