The Challenge
UPS Healthcare needed to increase productivity while maintaining strict compliance, order accuracy, traceability, and safety standards for healthcare distribution. Associates previously used scan guns and pushed large metal carts through the facility, walking an average of 10,000 steps per shift, so the team needed a solution that could reduce physical strain while operating safely in cold storage environments.
The Solution
UPS Healthcare implemented a Locus Robotics warehouse execution platform with 24 AMRs, dashboards, and actionable reporting tools to help associates move products more efficiently while capturing key pick and traceability data in the warehouse management system. The robots operate throughout the facility, including 2–8°C cooler storage, and helped UPS Healthcare improve order accuracy, speed, quality, employee morale, and data insights while increasing lines picked by 54% within six months.
The Results
Since associates are no longer needed to push heavy carts with the Locus robots carrying products, there has been a positive impact on employee safety and injury numbers. The facility had previously experienced a number of push-pull injuries, which have nearly disappeared since the implementation of Locus Robotics technology. For traceability, the robot captures the associate’s information and what was picked so that it can be held in the warehouse management system for future historical record. The robots work throughout the facility, including cold storage, which was the first use of the robots in a cold chain environment for a unique and compliant solution. They operate in and out of the cooler environment, where the team processes products onto the robots. The robots enter the cooler through an automatic door. Implementing the Locus Robotics solution helped UPS Healthcare enhance their order accuracy, speed, and quality. In the six months after launching the robots, they saw a 54% increase in lines picked, enabling them to deliver products to customers faster.
Our UPS Healthcare team chose Locus Robotics after our industrial engineering team showed us that they implemented the Locus Robotics solution and how it was performing on that account. We saw the value of deploying Locus Robots in our healthcare operation.