Geekplus, the global leader in mobile robotics solutions for logistics, has expanded its partnership with UPS Supply Chain Solutions, outfitting the company’s new Velocity warehouse near Louisville, Kentucky, with the Geekplus Shelf-to-Person PopPick solution.
More than 700 robots work together with employees in the $79 million facility to streamline e-commerce fulfillment while aiding labor retention by easing streneous manual picking tasks. With the Geekplus solution, UPS SCS employees can process 350,000 items per day, a 400-percent increase in productivity over warehouses that don’t use automation.
Counting the new facility, UPS SCS now has more than 1,000 Geekplus robots operating in its facilities across North America to help meet demand from the ballooning e-commerce market. UPS uses the Geekplus Shelf-to-Person technology to improve storage by 30 percent when compared to traditional facilities.
“It’s a linchpin of our strategy. It’s important to be able to deliver best-in-class cost and best-in-class service for your customers,” UPS SCS President Bill Seward told Bloomberg.
One year ago, Geekplus deployed its shelf-to-person robots in multiple UPS SCS warehouses to support retail customer Allbirds during the 2022 peak season. Due to the collaboration, UPS SCS saw a 97-percent increase, year over year, in peak unit throughput.
Velocity itself is a growth story. UPS SCS had previously used Geekplus robots in the warehouse before the acquisition of a new customer necessitated a significant expansion to make room for new products and introduce more robotic automation. Highlighting the flexibility of its solutions, Geekplus 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 infrastrucuture, allowing UPS SCS to meet increased customer demands. Geekplus’ scalability has allowed UPS SCS to create new business in an old setting.
”Our latest expansion with UPS Supply Chain Solutions is our largest PopPick project in North America,” said Rick DeFiesta, EVP of Sales & Solutions for Geekplus 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.”
The Geekplus Shelf-to-Person PopPick soluton is also a foundational component of the UPS SCS facility in Ontario, California. The addition of Geekplus robots at this second site will help UPS SCS continue to optimize its picking and fulfillment operations over the coming years, keeping up with the nonstop growth of e-commerce.
Jon Ross
Global communications manager
jon.ross@geekplus.com
Tel: +1 470 964 0998