At DB Schenker’s 220,000 sq. ft. Irish distribution centre, LSM has partnered with Norwegian smart mobility company Wheel.me to deliver a fully automated waste management system. The project supports DB Schenker’s key priorities: improving operational efficiency, strengthening on-site safety and delivering on ambitious sustainability targets.
Wheel.me’s Genius 2 wheels turn ordinary objects into autonomous, mobile robots, allowing facilities to move materials with minimal manual handling. Combined with LSM’s high-performance balers and compactors, this technology has enabled DB Schenker to re-think how waste is moved, compacted and managed across a large Irish logistics hub.
How the Partnership Came About
Large distribution and logistics sites are facing familiar pressures: labour constraints, strict health and safety requirements, and growing expectations around environmental performance. LSM identified an opportunity to address these challenges by combining its automated baling systems with Wheel.me’s proven autonomous mobility platform.
DB Schenker’s Irish distribution centre provided the ideal starting point. The scale of the operation, volume of cardboard and plastic waste, and the need to reduce manual handling made it a strong candidate for a fully integrated, automated solution.
The Challenge On Site
Before the project, operatives at DB Schenker were required to manually wheel around 30 large bins of waste from different areas of the warehouse to the LSM balers.
This created several issues:
- Labour-intensive handling: Staff spent valuable time pushing bins rather than focusing on core activities.
- Safety risks: Frequent manual handling of fully loaded bins increased the risk of slips, trips and strains.
- Inefficiencies and bottlenecks: Moving multiple bins over long distances led to congestion and delays.
DB Schenker wanted to optimise labour, improve safety and reduce the frequency and cost of waste handling and collection, without compromising productivity.
The Solution:
Step 1: Retrofitting Bins with an Autonomous Carting System
Standard 1,100-litre bins are designed to be pushed manually. To automate movement, LSM designed a custom carting system so that Wheel.me’s Genius 2 wheels could be mounted to these existing bins, turning them into autonomous transport units.
By fitting brackets in a consistent position on each bin, LSM ensured that the bins could be navigated automatically to the LSM H50 balers for compaction.
Wheel.me’s Genius 2 wheels were configured to handle the demands of fully loaded 1,100-litre bins, maintaining stability over different floor types and through the lifting and lowering cycle at the baler.
The DB Schenker facility includes three distinct ground surfaces between the waste generation areas and the baling zone. The Genius 2 system was calibrated to transport bins reliably across these surfaces, in both wet and dry conditions.
Step 2: Creating a Closed-Loop Automated Workflow
Once the bins were compatible with Genius 2, LSM integrated them with its H50 balers using a wireless interface, or “wise unit,” developed in-house.
This Wi-Fi-enabled interface allows:
- The baler to “recognise” when a Genius 2 bin has arrived and is ready to be emptied.
- The system to trigger the correct sequence for lifting, emptying and compacting the waste.
- Seamless communication between the baler, the Genius 2 wheels and on-site operatives.
A colour-coded lighting system was added to provide clear visual status updates in the baling area:
- Green: The baler is ready to receive a bin.
- Red: The baler is in motion; no bin should enter or leave.
- Blue: The bin has been emptied and compacted; the Genius 2 system can remove the bin.
This closed-loop system works alongside Wheel.me’s built-in sensors and collision-avoidance cameras, giving operators real-time information while maintaining a high standard of safety and control.
Step 3: Custom Bin Lifts and Dock Enclosures
To fit seamlessly with the existing infrastructure at DB Schenker’s site, LSM engineered a custom H50 Rear-Filling Clamped bin lift and a dedicated enclosure tailored to the levelling dock.
This configuration enables:
- Fully automated bin positioning at the baler.
- No manual bin pushing or lining-up, reducing manual handling risks.
- Smooth integration with current loading dock layouts and workflows.
Results for DB Schenker
The automated waste system has delivered clear, measurable benefits:
- Improved Safety
- Less manual pushing and pulling of heavy bins.
- Reduced exposure to waste and fewer touchpoints in the process.
- Significant Cost Avoidance
- By using autonomous driving waste bins, DB Schenker has avoided the need to hire two full-time equivalents (FTEs).
- This equates to an estimated cost avoidance of approximately €80,000 per year.
- Better Labour Utilisation
- Around 3-4 operatives have been freed up to focus on higher-value tasks elsewhere in the operation.
- Space and Asset Efficiency
- The site has reduced the number of bins required from 30 down to just 7, without compromising on capacity or flow.
Together, these improvements show how logistics and distribution operators can meet both operational and ESG targets by rethinking how waste is moved and compacted on site.
This project demonstrates how LSM’s engineering expertise, combined with Wheel.me’s autonomous mobility technology, can deliver a practical, future-ready waste management solution in such facilities. Building on the success at DB Schenker, LSM is already positioned to roll out similar systems for other high-throughput sites for LSM’s global clientele.
Ready for an Automated Waste Management System at Your Facility?
If your distribution centre, warehouse or logistics hub in Ireland is facing labour-intensive waste handling, frequent bin movements or manual handling concerns, LSM can help.
Get in touch with our team, and we’ll work with you to design a customised solution – powered by Wheel.me’s robotic technology and LSM’s automated balers to:
- Reduce manual handling and improve safety.
- Cut operational and labour costs.
- Streamline waste flows across your site.
Contact LSM today to explore what an automated waste management system could look like for your business.
