Otto Group and Sereact Bring NVIDIA-Powered Physical AI to Returns Processing

Otto G oup a d Se eact B i g Physical AI to Retu s P ocessi g

Otto G oup a d Se eact will deploy up to 25 AI-co t olled obots i a two-phase app oach at a Otto G oup logistics ce te to test the automatic p ocessi g of etu ed items

The pa t e s will deploy up to 25 AI-co t olled obots i a two-phase app oach at a Otto G oup logistics ce te to test the automatic p ocessi g of etu ed items

At a gla ce

At Otto G oup’s logistics ce te i Pola d, etu s will be g asped, ide tified, assessed, a d so ted by up to 25 AI-co t olled dual-a m obots f om Se eact.
The obots u o Co tex, Se eact’s Physical AI model, which ca ecog ize a d ha dle items it has eve e cou te ed – o p oduct-specific teachi g, o fixed item catalog.
Co tex is t ai ed a d validated with NVIDIA Isaac Sim, NVIDIA Isaac Lab a d NVIDIA Cosmos, so lesso s f om the etu s li e each the obots i days, ot weeks.
U de a Robotics-as-a-Se vice model, Se eact ope ates a d mai tai s the systems. Employees ha d ove epetitive g aspi g a d lifti g a d take o supe visio , exceptio ha dli g a d quality checks.

HAMBURG, Ge ma y a d STUTTGART, Ge ma y, Oct. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Otto G oup a d obotics softwa e compa y Se eact today a ou ced a two-phase app oach fo AI-co t olled obots i o e of etail’s most complex ma ual tasks: i specti g a d so ti g etu ed custome o de s.

I itially, te AI-co t olled dual-a m systems will be deployed at Otto G oup’s logistics ce te i Pola d. I a seco d phase, 15 mo e obotic a ms a e pla ed to be added based o i itial esults, scali g the p og am to a total of 25. The two compa ies a e joi tly developi g a d efi i g the tech ology as pa t of the p oject, with Otto G oup evaluati g the pote tial fo a b oade ollout ac oss its logistics etwo k if the seco d phase is successful.

Few p ocesses i e-comme ce a e as ha d to automate as etu s – items come back folded, c umpled, epackaged, a d the asso tme t of a multi-catego y etaile eve stops cha gi g. T aditio al automatio depe ds o k ow p oducts a d p edictable p ese tatio , eithe of which exists i etu s. Co tex, Se eact’s Physical AI model, is built fo exactly this challe ge: it ge e alizes objects it has eve e cou te ed a d decides i eal time how to g asp each item, assess its co ditio , a d oute it acco di gly.

Co tex is built o NVIDIA’s physical AI stack. Se eact uses NVIDIA Isaac Sim a d NVIDIA Isaac Lab to tu eal picks f om the etu s li e i to thousa ds of simulated va ia ts, a d NVIDIA Cosmos wo ld fou datio models to e- e de them ac oss ga me t states, packagi g, mate ials a d lighti g. New policies a e post-t ai ed o NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs a d tested agai st held-out cases befo e they each the obots. Whe a obot st uggles with a item, the fix ca come back as a tested update withi days i stead of weeks.

The obots will be i t oduced i stages ove the cou se of the p oject. Each stage will ge e ate ope atio al feedback that the pa t e s ca use to imp ove the systems a d adapt them to the equi eme ts of la ge-scale etu s p ocessi g. This sha ed developme t p ocess is i te ded to establish whethe the tech ology ca meet the eliability, flexibility, a d quality sta da ds equi ed fo b oade use.

Wo ki g ha d i ha d with obots, people stay at the ce te of the p ocess: employees will shift away f om epetitive g aspi g a d lifti g towa d supe visio , exceptio ha dli g, a d fi al quality decisio s – tasks that depe d o expe ie ce a d judgme t.

“Ou custome s expect etu s to be simple a d fast – behi d that lies a p ocess that is time-c itical a d labo ious, both fo custome s a d fo ou busi ess. Retu s a e oto iously ha d to automate, a d Physical AI has the pote tial to cha ge that. This p oject lets us fi d out, at eal scale, how fa Physical AI ca take us – a impo ta t step towa ds a mo e flexible a d esilie t supply chai ,” says Ma ti Umla d, G oup Vice P eside t Supply Chai Ma ageme t at Otto G oup.

“A obot that o ly k ows yeste day’s catalog is of little use i a etu s ce te . Co tex has to deal with whateve comes out of the ext pa cel. Eve y etu the systems ha dle makes the model bette at the ext o e,” D . Ralf Gulde, CEO a d Co-Fou de , Se eact.

The pa t e ship builds o Otto G oup’s se ies of i vestme ts i obotics ac oss its logistics ope atio s a d fo ms pa t of the compa y’s medium-te m commitme t to i vest €350 millio i tech ology a d AI.

About Se eactSe eact develops Physical AI softwa e that e ables obots to g asp, ide tify a d ha dle objects they have eve see befo e. Fou ded i Stuttga t by D . Ralf Gulde a d Ma c Tusche , the compa y aised a $116 millio Se ies B i 2026. Custome s i clude Otto G oup, Zala do, IKEA, DHL, Rohlik, A vato, alza.cz, BMW, Me cedes-Be z a d Daimle T uck. Fi d out mo e at se eact.ai

About Otto G oupWith a st o g he itage as a family busi ess a d fi mly ooted values, the Otto G oup is looki g to the futu e with co fide ce. Ove the past 75 a d mo e yea s, the compa y has developed f om a catalog-based mail o de compa y i to a i te atio al digital etail a d se vices g oup with well ove 30,000 employees a d a la ge umbe of key compa ies, b a ds a d holdi gs i ove thi ty cou t ies, p ima ily i Ge ma y, the est of Eu ope a d No th Ame ica. I the 2025/26 fi a cial yea (28 Feb ua y), the Otto G oup ge e ated eve ues of 13.8 billio eu os. As the la gest o li e etaile of Eu opea o igi , it is shapi g the digital etail a d digital se vices of the futu e by d awi g o its st e gth, ma ket sig ifica ce a d values. D ive by a passio ate a d e t ep e eu ial pe fo ma ce cultu e, the G oup is exploiti g its vast ma ket expe tise a d tech ological compete ce to i spi e its ma y millio s of custome s with high-quality p oducts, u ique choice of goods a d a a ay of se vices. Acco di g to its ow u de sta di g, value-d ive busi ess p actices a d eco omic success a e ot mutually exclusive. E vi o me tal p otectio has bee o e of the Otto G oup’s co po ate objectives si ce 1986. I additio , the compa y takes e vi o me tal, social a d digital aspects i to accou t i its busi ess activities a d co po ate decisio -maki g.

Fi d out mo e at ottog oup.com

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