ISN Doubles Productivity of Automotive Supply Orders with LocusBots

Results

Automotive supplier deploys robots in just 7 weeks and sees a 230% productivity increase

“We’ve seen our efficiency in terms of picks per hour double since we’ve implemented the solution,” said Paul Brothers, Senior Manager at ISN’s Buford Distribution Center. “It’s been a 3-way partnership that’s really made it very easy to implement. January 6th was our first kickoff call, and we had robots picking on March 10.” 

The Locus solution was deployed into this existing environment with almost no modifications, simply setting up a few induction and drop-off points. “The integration was really seamless. We were picking the same day and doing the same volume. We didn’t shut down, we didn’t pause, we never took a break,” said Theron. 

The Körber solution at ISN includes a cartonization feature that determines the shipping box needed for an order prior to picking. Combined with a total AMR solution, robots now travel to fulfill orders through faster pick paths than associates with carts and skip a manual point of transfer at the packing station. 

Almost immediately, associates went from picking 20- 40 lines per hour using a traditional cart to some reaching 100 lines per hour with robots. In addition to the productivity increase, the team saw order accuracy increase and a significant decrease in the time it takes to train new associates. It has also made it easier to attract new employees looking for a more modern workplace without the physical tolls that come with traveling around a warehouse with a traditional cart. 

“Here we’ve had a successful implementation, but that’s the first mile of the marathon,” said Paul. The team plans to extend to solution to include putaway functions and to implement in other ISN facilities.