Building up and breaking down air cargo pallets is some of the most physically demanding work in the warehouse — repetitive, strenuous, and currently entirely manual. For KLM, exploring whether that work could be automated wasn't just a technology question, but a step toward a warehouse that's more sustainable for the people who run it and more flexible in how it operates.
The challenge KLM set out to solve
Air cargo pallets (PMCs) carry an enormous variety of cargo, and no two are alike. Dimensions, packaging, shape, position, and stacking patterns all change constantly, and no information is provided in advance about what a given pallet actually contains. That means any system built to handle this work has to see and think the way a person would: detecting packages and pallets in real time and deciding how to handle each one as it comes. It's precisely this variability and lack of prior knowledge that has made this part of the process so hard to automate — and why KLM wanted to find out how much progress vision AI has made toward solving it.
Testing the technology, together
To explore this, KLM brought together DERO Group, Fizyr, and Viroteq, combining KLM's aviation logistics expertise with vision intelligence, robotics, and system integration know-how. The objective of the Proof of Concept was clear: determine whether the technology is mature enough to automate part of KLM's warehouse logistics process in the future, helping reduce physically demanding work while increasing operational flexibility.
The result: the team successfully demonstrated that mixed depalletizing and palletizing with robotics and vision AI is technically feasible — even when handling highly variable cargo with no prior knowledge of pallet contents. Giving robots the ability to see and interpret each pallet in real time was what made this possible. While this was a Proof of Concept rather than a production deployment, it gives KLM a concrete, evidence-based answer about where the technology stands today, and marks an important step toward the next generation of warehouse automation at KLM.
See the video below to learn more
Yu-Ming Sie (KLM), Tibor van Melsem Kocsis (Fizyr), and Dick Goudriaan (DERO Group) walk through the Proof of Concept carried out at KLM's own warehouse:
Watch the video: POC Robotics & AI for KLM
What's next for KLM
Innovation like this is only possible through close collaboration. A big thank you to everyone at KLM and DERO Group who helped make this project a success. As KLM continues to explore how (physical) AI can transform its airline business and warehouse logistics, this Proof of Concept stands as a proud, concrete step — and the team is already looking ahead to what the possible next steps could be.
.jpg)
.jpg)
