JAS Contract Logistics

Overview & Challenge

JAS is a premier “go-to” company for those wishing to move cargo from anywhere in the world to anywhere else in the world. Using advanced tracking technologies, sophisticated global communications, and a large team of experts across a broad spectrum of specialties, JAS can cost-effectively handle the shipping of everything from tiny camera parts up to the massive components required to build an oil rig. JAS has based their flagship warehouse for Contract Logistics in the Netherlands. At this location, with more than 55.000 m2 , they pick, pack, and ship product all around the world.

Before the facility was automated, those orders were picked by associates pushing heavy trolleys and checking off each item on paper. Associates found the job physically taxing from pushing the trolleys.

The physical strain on associates as well as the high labor competition in the area led to turnover and labor challenges in the tight market.

As the team considered options on how to create a better working environment for associates and ensure that the household kitchen items were fulfilled on time, they found that Locus Robotics was the most nimble and scalable solution.

Results

3PL retains more associates with LocusBots

Locus deployed a warehouse execution platform and 11 autonomous mobile robots along with a suite of dashboards and actionable reporting tools for JAS Contract Logistics. The cobots were joined by three others that were brought on for the peak season and retained full-time.

The cobots improved associate ergonomics and employee morale as the human workers no longer have to mark off each item picked on a piece of paper and then push the heavy trolleys over to a conveyor where the products are scanned. Instead, the cobots do the walking for the associates and the process is automated through the software and display screens.

The associates also enjoy having the display screens show the item to be picked in their preferred language. At the facility, the cobots display languages for associates that read Dutch and English, as well as for associates from Poland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.

Along with improved employee retention, the Locus Solution has also improved the units per hour (UPH) picked metrics. Before bringing on Locus, they were picking at 75 UPH, and now that number has climbed to an average of 134 UPH and even higher.

Associates, managers, and executives alike are thrilled with the bots. The managers and associates can view real-time metrics and pick maps and make decisions based on that information, while leadership gains visibility that they didn’t previously have on the flow of the facility.

"The supervisors constantly have the Locus dashboards open on a screen so they can step in if anything needs to be improved or changed with our operations,” says Rila. “The managers are glad to see the UPH increasing thanks to Locus, and we know that we can easily scale up our cobots as needed to keep us competitive.”