Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) developer Geek+ has deployed its AMRs at RangePlus’s fulfilment centre, enabling the independent British online retailer to compete in the growing e-commerce sector.
The new automated storage and retrieval system was designed and delivered in collaboration with warehouse automation company and Geek+ strategic delivery partner Breathe Technologies.
Lit Fung, VP and managing director, overseas business at Geek+, said: “We are delighted to see our smart picking solution enable RangePlus to achieve efficient, flexible, and accurate operations. This digital transformation helps them greatly increase their competitiveness and chart their own course as an independent e-commerce provider.”
Due to the change in customers’ shopping behaviour to online purchasing, RangePlus said it has seen growing order demand, and its original manual order picking was holding the business back. With a high number of small and irregular goods, manual order picking processes were time-consuming and prone to error.
RangePlus began looking at automation solutions to boost warehouse capacity and throughput. After comparing different order picking options, Geek+’s cost-effective, flexible, automated warehouse picking system was selected to help the retailer handle a 25% increase in order volumes and 40% in SKUs.
Marcus Uprichard, head of business development & partnerships at Breathe Technologies, added: “Working closely with RangePlus and Geek+, we’ve created an automated warehouse picking system that’s incredibly flexible, modular, and perfectly suited to high-growth e-commerce environments.”
The Geek+ goods-to-person solution is running 24/7 in RangePlus’s fulfilment centre with 243,000 SKUs and handles over 250,000 orders per year. After automating its picking process, RangePlus achieved a 300% improvement in picking rate and order picking time, as well as a 25% reduction in operating costs. They also maximised warehouse capacity by stocking 50% more SKUs in the same space while reducing error rates and minimising waste. The ROI is 100% under two years.
Shabbab Al-Ghamdi, co-founder of RangePlus, said: “This automated warehouse picking system has been a wise financial decision. We can now significantly increase the amount we pick, pack, and ship… the system is paying for itself.”
Geek+ picking AMRs automate the picking process by bringing the inventory shelves to the warehouse operator at the picking station. The solution reduces the time spent finding and moving goods around manually and improves not only picking accuracy but also employee productivity and comfort. Empowered by AI, inventory shelves are arranged according to demand in real time; the most in-demand items are close to the operator to ensure a fast and efficient picking process.
