Rhenus deploys smart picking trolleys for Merck at Strasbourg hub

Rhenus has put a smart order-picking system into operation at its Strasbourg logistics hub in France, where it processes roughly 2,800 orders per day across three shifts for the science and technology company Merck.

The facility, which supports Merck's operations in Molsheim, now runs picking trolleys equipped with integrated weighing technology — up to 30 scales per trolley — allowing operators to verify product quantities and weights while they prepare orders rather than at a separate control station further down the line.

Rhenus developed the solution together with logistics technology specialist Signature One. It combines three functions that warehouses normally handle separately: automated weight checks, light-guided picking and digital quality controls.

What changes on the warehouse floor?

The core of the system is the smart picking trolley. Light-guided picking directs warehouse employees to the correct items, which cuts search time and reduces the chance of pulling the wrong product. Onboard cameras let teams review an order whenever an additional check is needed, so quality verification happens at the point of picking instead of after the fact.

The trolleys also carry an ergonomic design and colour-coded identification, which Rhenus uses to organise warehouse activities and make the equipment easier for staff to work with across shifts.

The commercial logic is straightforward. For a science-sector customer like Merck, order accuracy and product traceability are not nice-to-haves — they are requirements. A wrong quantity in a life-science or laboratory shipment can mean a rejected delivery, a compliance problem and a re-pick that costs more than the original pick. Weight-based verification at the trolley catches those errors before the order leaves the building.

"Our shared objective with Rhenus was to improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that the right quantities are picked for every order," said Quentin Decoster, Distribution Manager at Merck's Molsheim site.

That quote frames the deal in commercial terms: this is an accuracy play first, and an efficiency play second. Rhenus positions the investment as a way to improve order accuracy, reduce picking errors and support more efficient warehouse operations across the hub.

A 16-year partnership keeps digitalising

The deployment marks another step in a logistics partnership between Rhenus and Merck that now spans 16 years. The two companies have been steadily connecting physical and digital processes along the Molsheim–Strasbourg corridor.

In 2025, they introduced a logistics shuttle running on B100 renewable biodiesel between Merck's Molsheim facility and the Rhenus hub in Strasbourg — a decarbonisation move on the transport leg that now pairs with digitalisation on the warehouse leg.

The partners do not intend to stop at picking trolleys. They plan to connect the smart trolleys to a wider order-preparation system. Future developments include integration with conveyor systems, on-demand packaging equipment and other warehouse management tools.

The stated aim is to link warehouse processes more closely, from incoming deliveries all the way through to final customer shipments — effectively closing the loop between goods-in, order preparation and dispatch within one connected system.

For Rhenus, the Strasbourg deployment doubles as a reference case: a measurable-volume operation — 2,800 orders daily, three shifts — where weighing technology, pick-to-light and camera-based quality control run on a single trolley. Expect the logistics operator to pitch that combination to other pharma and life-science customers, where traceability requirements and error costs are highest.