The solution: moving fulfillment to a shared-space facility operated by 3PL service provider Saddle Creek Logistics and AMRs from Locus Robotics.

As the business model developed and diversified, the complexity of the fulfillment requirements also grew. Improving efficiency, scalability, transportation times and costs quickly became a top priority. To proactively address these challenges, Psycho Bunny turned to Saddle Creek Logistics Services to help them successfully meet the fulfillment needs of both e-commerce and retail. In 2022, Psycho Bunny therefore completely relocated its fulfillment activities to the new shared space facility of the ded3PL service provider.

Expansion of retail trade requires technological support

As Psycho Bunny had successively opened almost 100 stores in Canada and the USA over the past four years, a dynamic and demand-based replenishment had to be guaranteed for these new stores on a weekly basis. However, stock levels and order volumes quickly exceeded the original scope of operations. A solution was therefore jointly developed to provide the best possible support for retail distribution and replenishment in the face of increasing capacity. The automation of mission-critical processes promised the greatest possible optimization potential. When introducing automation solutions, efficiency, flexibility and scalability played a key role for Psycho Bunny. In view of the growing consumer demand, the fast and efficient processing of orders was particularly important. Together with Saddle Creek, the decision was made to use autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). After a thorough market analysis, Locus Robotics and its solutions in the field of autonomous mobile robot technology were chosen. In contrast to rigid, permanently installed automation systems, AMR fleets can be flexibly adapted to seasonal fluctuations or sudden peaks. Locus Robotics offers these as part of a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) billing model, where robots and associated services are billed on a subscription or usage basis. This offered Saddle Creek maximum financial flexibility in addition to cutting-edge technology and allows them to scale their mobile automation solutions as needed.

Locus Robotics' robot fleets are orchestrated using the LocusOne warehouse automation platform. This uses algorithms and real-time data to optimize critical processes such as task assignment, route planning and resource utilization using real-time insights and predictive analytics. This allows autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to work seamlessly with each other and with human employees, significantly increasing productivity in day-to-day operations, reducing costs and enabling dynamic adaptation to changing requirements. The platform integrates with existing warehouse management systems (WMS) and enables flexible control of different types of robots for various tasks such as picking, transportation or replenishment.

Successful acceleration of cycle times

Saddle Creek decided to use two types of AMR from Locus Robotics to speed up cycle times for e-commerce orders: Origin and Vector. The Locus Origin robot optimizes warehouse logistics, especially order picking, thanks to its compact design and intelligent navigation technology. It independently handles transportation and navigation in the warehouse so that employees can concentrate on the actual picking. This reduces unproductive walking times and increases the efficiency of work processes, increasing productivity by a factor of two to three. The Locus Origin can work with different container types and dynamically adapt to different storage requirements.
The Locus Vector AMRs, which can transport up to six large totes simultaneously, are also suitable for picking larger quantities of retail orders. Saddle Creek's Warehouse Execution System (WES) can group similar orders and transmit them to the robots to further increase efficiency. In addition to assisting with order picking, Saddle Creek also uses the Vector robots for putaway. After loading at the dock, they transport products to the aisles to be picked into the picking area and then transport remaining products to storage. The AMRs also take care of replenishment.

Both types of robots work safely and intuitively with human employees, which enables rapid familiarization and improves ergonomics and occupational safety. "Using the robots with our new zone-based slotting system has proven to be groundbreaking," emphasizes Jeremy Moore, Senior Director of Fulfillment Operations at Saddle Creek. "The improvements in picking and packing productivity have far exceeded our expectations and have resulted in significant throughput increases for both e-commerce and retail orders."

Use of AMRs helps to cope with order peaks

The use of autonomous mobile robots has increased productivity at Saddle Creek by two to three times, which has enabled business growth of 200 percent. Particularly demanding order peaks - especially before major holidays such as Christmas or around Black Friday - can now be handled with ease. "The robots from Locus Robotics make it easy to scale to meet demand during peaks in order volumes," adds Moore. "They are therefore particularly valuable to us during the peak season, when order volumes increase by 200 to 400 percent. But they also help us to cope very successfully with fluctuations in our day-to-day business." In addition to Saddle Creek's business managers and employees, this primarily benefits Psycho Bunny and its customers. They now receive their orders on time, even during seasonal peaks, which represents a massive added value for customer satisfaction and loyalty.