Sports nutrition retailer The Feed to deploy picking robots
The Feed will roll out automatic picking robots in its warehouse at the end of March 2024.
The Denver area-based online retailer of sports nutrition products and gear has begun installation of 48 Brightpick Autopicker robots. Leveraging Autopicker autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technology in its warehouse for picking, kitting (creating ready-to-ship orders) and storing finished orders, as well as to replenish inventory, The Feed plans to pick and consolidate orders directly in the warehouse aisles.
In addition, the solution’s two-tote design enables it to retrieve storage totes from shelving and robotically pick individual items from those storage totes into an adjacent order tote. It does this repeatedly as it moves through the warehouse aisles until the order or batch has been fully picked.
In the first phase of the project, The Feed seeks to utilize the robots to fulfill 5,000 orders per day while eliminating its reliance on manual labor. The retailer will also have the option to use Brightpick Autopicker for other fulfillment tasks such as goods-to-person picking, pallet picking, stock replenishment, dynamic slotting, order consolidation, storing and dispatch.
The Feed wanted to reduce operational and fulfillment expenses and selected the Brightpick solution because of the speed of deployment and ability to scale with the company's aggressive growth trajectory. The company also sought an automated solution that didn’t require additional power modifications in its warehouse and would effectively integrate with its existing in-house software systems.
"The Feed’s e-commerce platform is a performance-minded marketplace for athletes," said Matt Johnson, founder of The Feed. "We have scaled significantly over the last few years and are moving into a new, larger warehouse. Brightpick Autopickers are a powerful way for us to keep up with our high demand now and in the future."
"It is exciting to see the strong traction we are receiving for Brightpick Autopicker robots in ecommerce, pharmaceuticals, and e-grocery," said Jan Zizka, CEO and co-founder of Brightpick. "As we complete additional pilots this year, we expect to have more good news to share about Brightpick Autopicker installations."
Another specialty retailer in the fitness space, Gymshark, also utilizes automated picking robots at a Pennsylvania distribution center. Gymshark deployed the Exotec Skypod system as the central pick engine in its 640,000-sq.-ft. Allentown, Penn. fulfillment center. The solution utilizes mobile robots that can move in three dimensions with laser scanner navigation.