UPS introduces large-scale picking automation at Kentucky warehouse
UPS Supply Chain Solutions (UPS SCS) has announced a new agreement with developer of autonomous mobile robots Geek+, which will see the robotics company outfit its new warehouse near Louisville, Kentucky with automated picking technology.
The robotics company’s Shelf-to-Person PopPick solution, with more than 700 robots set to be deployed at the US$79m (£63m) facility, named the ‘Velocity’ warehouse.
This project marks a growth of the pair’s existing commercial relationship, with UPS SCS already using more than 1,000 Geek+ robots across its North American operations.
Some of the major ambitions of the product include improving staff retention by reducing the physical demands of work on employees and increasing the efficiency of fulfilment processes.
UPS SCS has said it can now process 350,000 items per day, marking a 400% increase in productivity when compared with warehouses that don’t use automation.
The picking technology was designed to improve storage capacity by 30% compared to traditional facilities.
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”Our latest expansion with UPS Supply Chain Solutions is our largest PopPick project in North America,” said Rick DeFiesta, EVP of sales and solutions for Geek+ America.
“By putting our solutions in their new, cutting-edge facility, UPS Supply Chain Solutions is underlining that Geekplus has become the go-to robotics partner for their warehouse automation strategy.”
Geek+ previously deployed its shelf-to-person robots in several UPS SCS warehouses to support retail customer Allbirds during the 2022 peak season, which saw the supply chain company reach a 97% increase, year-on-year, in peak unit throughput.
The company’s recent acquisition of a new customer necessitated a significant expansion of capacity at the Velocity site.
To enable this, the robotics firm reconfigured the warehouse layout, repositioning more than 1,000 existing racks to a different area of the facility.
The team then added the Shelf-to-Person PopPick solution to the existing robot infrastructure, with this same solution forming a critical part of UPS SCS’ site in Ontario, California.
Source: logisticsmanager.com