KUKA, Contoro Robotics and third-party logistics provider States Logistics announced on August 4 a joint deployment that automates one of warehousing's most physically demanding jobs: unloading floor-loaded cases from non-climate-controlled semi-trailers. The system pairs a KUKA KR IONTEC industrial arm with Contoro's AdaptAI software at a States Logistics California distribution center.
How The Cell Works
A LiDAR system on the front of the mobile base positions the robot inside the trailer and lets it drive forward as carton walls are removed. Arm-mounted cameras stream images of the wall into Contoro's AI, which assigns collision-free grasps to grippers on the arm. The system runs unassisted for the bulk of each unload and hands off to a remote human operator through Contoro's teleoperation stack when a stack collapses or an unusual case appears. Before the switch, roughly two to four States Logistics employees loaded and unloaded two to three trailers per shift. The automated system now handles four to five trailers per shift.
Safety First, Throughput Second
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, overexertion from lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling and carrying remains one of the leading causes of workplace injury, and repetitive case unloading is a top offender. "The need for change was about protecting our employees, not just our throughput," said Javier Sevilla, VP of Operations at States Logistics, who cited a significant number of back-strain-related health claims tied to manual unloading. KUKA's Nate Brazelle framed the deployment as evidence that "automation is an essential tool for creating safer workplaces."
The Broader Physical-AI Wave
The rollout comes as physical AI moves rapidly onto the warehouse floor. KUKA fired up its AMP platform at a Toledo Jeep plant last month, FedEx scaled a Dexterity mech to a Hagerstown trailer hub, and Trew and Brightpick folded Gridpicker into US fulfillment. For Contoro, which raised a $12M Series A in 2025 and has offloaded 450+ trailers with earlier customers, the KUKA partnership widens hardware options and pulls the AdaptAI stack into more 3PL floors as case-unloading becomes the next visible robot-labor swap in logistics.
Reporting based on coverage from RoboticsTomorrow, ManufacturingTomorrow and KUKA Global.