Amazon acquires Belgian mechatronics company

With the acquisition of Cloostermans, Amazon continues to invest in customised technology that helps make work at its operations safer, simpler, and more productive. 

Cloostermans solutions and technology is used in Amazon operations to help move and stack heavy pallets and totes or package products together for customer delivery. Amazon began working with Cloostermans back in 2019, and by focusing Cloostermans’s experience in engineering, machinery, and robotics, Amazon says it will be able to more rapidly deploy solutions at its operations.

“Amazon’s investments in robotics and technology are supporting how we build a better and safer workplace for our employees and deliver for our customers,” says Ian Simpson, vice president of Global Robotics at Amazon, in a press release. “As we continue to broaden and accelerate the robotics and technology we design, engineer and deploy across our operations, we look forward to welcoming Cloostermans to Amazon and are excited to see what we can build together.”

Cloostermans’s team of approximately 200 employees will be joining Amazon Global Robotics’ growing presence in Europe. Last year, Amazon launched the European Innovation Lab in Italy, which focuses on new ergonomic technologies. 

"Expanding our design and manufacturing capabilities is just one of the many ways Amazon continues to invest in technologies within our operations. We recently announced a series of new robotic technologies, including Proteus, Amazon’s first fully autonomous mobile robot that uses advanced safety, perception, and navigation technology to maneuver around employees without being confined to restricted areas," the company writes in the press release.

Since Amazon began introducing robotics into its facilities in 2012, the company has deployed more than 520,000 robotic drive units worldwide.