inVia Robotics has been awarded this year’s Supply Chain and Demand Executive “Top Supply Chain Project” for increasing the productivity of SICK Sensor Intelligence’ fulfillment center by 1,000%. 

As a result of implementing inVia’s WES software and robotic automation, SICK saw a 10X boost in pick rates at unit level, increasing from 75 UPH to 764 UPH, and a 6X boost in pick rates at line level, increasing from 25 LPH to 152 LPH.

The Top Supply Chain Projects Award spotlights successful and innovative transformation projects that deliver bottom-line value to enterprises across various supply chain functions.

Flexible and scalable automation with quick payback

Following the eCommerce boom, warehouses with strained labor resources struggled to meet fulfillment demand. SICK Sensor Intelligence, a leading industrial equipment manufacturer and supplier, needed to increase its B2B fulfillment speed and accuracy while reducing overhead costs. Their team turned to inVia looking for a solution that could be quickly implemented, wouldn’t disrupt existing operations and was scalable to their business.

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“We needed an automation system that increased productivity across our warehouse, from orders going out through picking and inventory coming in through replenishment. We also needed the system to be flexible and scalable so that we can start small, get a win, and then continue to grow. We were looking for a minimum upfront investment to get payback quickly.”

Randy Ross, Head of Supply Chain at SICK

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The solution to this supplier’s challenges was inVia Robotics’ intelligent automation. inVia Logic AI-powered WES software dynamically optimizes and plans fulfillment workflows and guides people and inVia Picker autonomous mobile robots to efficiently execute tasks delivering industry leading productivity gains. inVia Logic intelligent algorithms calculate:

• the best-performing resources to meet daily SLAs
• allocation of orders based on synchronized replenishment and picking
• the most efficient pick paths and batching to minimize walking and number of touches

inVia Picker robots move inventory to a centralized pick wall, inVia PickerWall. People are stationed at the wall to sort inventory into orders, and as a result, inVia Picker robots cut the excessive walking that employees normally do by 99%.

inVia’s unique “Pay-Per-Productivity” robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model leads to a rapid payback period, compared to traditional systems that take years to realize a positive ROI. By implementing inVia’s RaaS solution, SICK was able to realize the return on investment (ROI) in less than 6 months. 

No downtime deployment at a brownfield facility

inVia first deployed the inVia PickerWall robotic automation at SICK’s brownfield facility with no downtime and no impact on SLA deadlines. SICK later decided to move its operations and some 3000 SKUs to a new facility in Minneapolis.

The company shut down the old facility on Friday. Over the weekend, inVia moved the robots, the racks and containers to the new location. inVia Logic WES software quickly remapped the new facility. By Monday morning, inVia PickerWall robotic automation was in place to support restarting of SICK’s fulfillment operations. 

Given the dynamic and fast-paced nature of eCommerce, inVia’s flexible, scalable, affordable solution allows retailers to be more nimble. They’re able to stay agile in response to consumer demands and macroeconomic forces to keep their businesses thriving.