Discover how a leading 3PL overcame labor shortages and fulfillment bottlenecks by partnering with BlueSkye Automation.

The Client

A leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider company specializing in the ecommerce and wholesale fulfillment industry with multiple warehouses across the southeast with over 10 years of experience. Their goal is to reach 85% of their consumers with standard 2-day shipping while providing industry leading customer service.

Challenge: Rapid Growth and Labor Shortages

The distributor was facing challenges meeting increased consumer demands, with growth of over 300% in 2020. Their existing manual warehouse processes, including selective pallet racking and non-automated material handling, were no longer sufficient to handle the volume. Labor shortages compounded the issue, as reliance on temporary staffing agencies failed to provide a stable workforce.

Solution: Scalable 3PL Warehouse Automation with BlueSkye and Geek+

To meet the demands of rapid growth, the 3PL partnered with BlueSkye Automation and Geek+ to transform their one million sq. ft. fulfillment center into a fully automated operation. The solution deployed eight integrated warehouse automation technologies within just 250,000 sq. ft., including:

• Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) for goods-to-person picking
• Four-way shuttle pallet AS/RS system for high-density storage
• Robotic arms for palletization of inbound materials and picking of outbound orders
• AMRs and vision-based barcode scanning for efficient sorting of materials
• Automated conveyors for container unloading

The automated system added 27,000 pallet positions allowing them to store more product in their existing space, reduce their labor reliance by 81%, and improve their average picks per hour by leveraging four-way shuttles, floor based mobile sorting systems and our revolutionary goods-to-person picking solution.

Results: Gains in Efficiency, Labor Savings, and Storage Capacity