Direct-to-consumer brand Sunday Swagger automates warehouse
An online retailer of polo golf shirts is utilizing cube storage technology and robotics in its warehouse.
Los Angeles-based Sunday Swagger is leveraging the Pio P100 plug-and-play automated warehouse system, which includes cube storage technology from AutoStore, to effectively perform order management and distribution.
The P100 system operates like a "product vending machine" which stores products that retailers put into bins. They then identify the product and its count for Pio, and the automated cube storage system places the bins much more densely together than they would be in a traditional warehouse.
As online orders come in from a linked Shopify account, an automated traffic system enables robots to select the correct bins and deliver them to ports, where products then flow for manual picking and packing. Robots can prepare orders on a 24/7 basis, so they are waiting for warehouse employees when they start the first shift of the day.
"Small-to-mid-sized business e-commerce brands face two major challenges in the U.S. – high labor costs and extremely high customer expectations regarding order fulfillment and delivery. Overcoming these two challenges isn’t possible without automation," said Magne Hatteland, VP and head of Pio. "With Pio, any brand, no matter its size, has access to the same best-in-class warehouse automation system as big box retailers, enabling them to compete at the same level or even outperform.
"As Shopify streamlines online store operations with digital features to help manage inventory and shipping, Pio’s cube storage technology and robots automate the next step in your logistics by eliminating any backlog and authorizing same-day order processing," Hatteland said. "This means your team can stop digging through and sorting boxes, and instead, spend their time growing the business to new heights."
According to Pio, the P100 solution can enable the picking and packing of 360 orders per hour, reducing labor costs by up to 80%, and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. To date, Pio says its users have seen a full return-on-investment (ROI) in less than a year.
[Read more: Survey: Supply chain leaders continue automation efforts]