AutoStore honored for invention of automated storage and retrieval system

If you had visited the electronic components seller Hatteland Group in the small Norwegian town of Nedre Vats in 1996, you might have witnessed the invention of a global game-changer in material handling. Frustrated that they were storing more air than inventory in a warehouse with space constraints, two men developed a clever solution: a grid system with storage bins that could be retrieved by a robot and then delivered to a waiting human at a workstation.

That protype was the forerunner of AutoStore, the automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that quickly solved the firm’s storage problem and was later spun off as a separate company. Created by Ingvar Hognaland and commercialized by Jakob Hatteland, the concept quickly gained believers, and today there are over 1,350 AutoStore systems installed for over 950 unique customers across 52 countries.

In honor of their achievements, Hognaland and Hatteland have now been named to the International Logistics Hall of Fame. Chosen by a jury of 70 figures from business, science, politics, and media, they join other illustrious members such as Henry Ford and FedEx founder Fred Smith. The two were officially inducted at the 2023 Logistics Hall of Fame Gala Reception in Berlin, Germany, in November.

“The induction of the two AutoStore founders into the Logistics Hall of Fame is overdue,” Anita Würmser, executive chairwoman of the Logistics Hall of Fame jury, said in a release. “Hognaland invented the automated cube warehouse and developed it into a perfect system that today has more than 1,600 patents. Hatteland will go down in logistics history because … he courageously believed in the success of the system for years and built up a network of selected international distributors who made AutoStore a global bestseller.”