At the Linde Automation Summit in Aschaffenburg on November 12–13, 2025, intralogistics specialist Linde Material Handling and ROSSMANN, one of Europe’s largest drugstore chains, will present an innovative robotic vehicle for autonomous order picking in warehouses. The Linde Robotic Case Picker (RoCaP) is equipped with a multi-axis gripper arm that picks individual packages from the rack and place them on an integral carrier. Following a successful test phase, ROSSMANN is moving forward with its first vehicle investments.
As any warehouse manager will confirm, order picking from mixed pallets or roll containers is among the most labour-intensive tasks in a warehouse. For many years, companies have been seeking solutions to automate the manual consolidation of orders on pallets or roll containers. The underlying objective is twofold: to reduce the workload for employees and minimize errors while also addressing the increasing labour shortage in the warehouse sector. The innovative Linde RoCaP promises to bring a breakthrough in automating this task.
RoCaP as a game changer
In March of this year, the preliminary development of the new robotic vehicle was completed at Linde MH. The next milestone was to validate the marketability of the innovative vehicle in a customer’s operation under realistic conditions using the proof-of-concept approach. The concept garnered immediate attention from ROSSMANN, an international family-owned company, that had long sought a solution to relieve the burden on employees, particularly when picking outer packaging weighing up to 25 kilograms. Initially, the company-specific requirements for utilization in ROSSMANN’s regional warehouse in Burgwedel were established. This was followed by several weeks of testing, after which those responsible at ROSSMANN were pleasantly surprised.
“The Linde RoCaP has the potential to represent a significant advance in warehouse logistics. It can help address the existing shortage of skilled workers and relieve employees of physically demanding tasks,” says Hendrik van Duuren, Managing Director of ROSSMANN Logistics.
The collaboration with ROSSMANN is extremely valuable for Linde MH, too. “Collaborating with our customers to further advance the vehicle will ensure long-term market success,” asserts Frank Wiezorek, Senior Director of IKA Solutions for Linde MH. The partnership with ROSSMANN places emphasis on meeting the needs of the highly significant retail segment.
A vehicle packed with high-tech features
The new Linde RoCaP is based on the Linde L-MATIC HD, an automated pallet stacker with a load capacity of 1.6 tons and a travel speed of up to 7.2 km/h. The vehicle, navigation, and safety technologies, as well as the battery compartment, lift mast, and automation arch, are the same as those of the series vehicle. This ensures cost advantages and robustness. A new feature is the four-axis intelligent robotic arm. Permanently attached to the fork carriage, it picks the packages and places them on the goods carrier. The load-bearing device for roll containers was specifically designed for use at ROSSMANN. It is supported by steel struts and also features a folding ramp attached to the vehicle. This allows the roll containers to be pushed up and down, while at the same time securing them firmly in place during transport.
The Linde RoCaP receives its orders from ROSSMANN’s warehouse management system via a server interface. The RoCaP management system utilizes various parameters to determine the next shelf location, including the size and weight of the order items and the optimal route. Upon arrival, the robot’s gripper arm is deployed. The device is equipped with a 3D camera that incorporates AI chips from NVIDIA. The camera recognizes the pallets in real time, verifies their accuracy, conducts an optical measurement, and delineates the three-dimensional ‘workspace’. This is followed by a complex surface scan. It determines the exact location of the packages on the pallet and which package to select according to defined operational specifications. The robotic arm then utilizes special vacuum technology to grasp the package, lifting it into the desired position.
Ideal for use in brownfield sites
“The collaboration with ROSSMANN has demonstrated the significant potential of the Linde RoCaP. We now aim to build on this potential together with the customer, who operates almost 5,000 stores across Europe,” says Peter Krumbholz, project manager in the Advanced Robotic Solutions division, who is overseeing development of the Linde RoCaP for the Linde brand. The time-consuming manual picking process in the ROSSMANN warehouse will now be gradually reduced – for the sake of enhanced safety, efficiency, and throughput.
The Linde RoCaP is designed for adaptability, making it suitable for integration into other warehouses and distribution centers. “The modular concept allows us to equip other automated vehicle models with the gripper arm as well,” explains development engineer Krumbholz. “It is ideally suited for automating brownfield sites with established warehouse layouts and mixed operations.” Thanks to being equipped with sophisticated safety technology for the vehicle and gripper arm, the Linde RoCaP can work side by side with human colleagues in the same aisle. “This advantage will open up significant opportunities, because mixed operations involving both manual and automated or autonomous vehicles in warehouse and production environments will become increasingly prevalent in the future,” says Frank Wiezorek. “We aim for the Linde RoCaP to make a substantial impact and provide optimal support to our customers as they advance towards automation.”
