Key Takeaways

·      “Geeking Out”: S&S Activewear (asi/84358) has implemented Geekplus’s PopPick AI-powered robots across multiple distribution centers to improve operational efficiency.

·      AI-Backed Benefits: PopPick robots increase picking speed and accuracy, boosting productivity, executives say.

·      Employee Focus: S&S reports improved employee safety and job satisfaction with automation.

·      More Bots: Adding to S&S’s AI arsenal is a different robotics system that’s active in the distribution centers of alphabroder (asi/34063), which S&S acquired this year.

Counselor Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear (asi/84358) is executing a robotics revolution.

The multibillion-dollar firm this year began implementing Geekplus’s PopPick advanced mobile robotics (AMR) solution in three of its distribution centers and has plans to roll the AI-powered bots out to two more warehouses in early 2025.

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Caption: PopPick robots from Geekplus at this S&S Activewear (asi/84358) facility move through the system of tote stacks, operating on AI to transport product-packed totes to human workers who pick the items and package them for shipping.

Adding to S&S’s AI promotional products arsenal is a different AMR system, this one from Locus Robotics, that’s active in distribution centers of alphabroder (asi/34063) – another multibillion-dollar Counselor Top 40 supplier, which S&S acquired officially at the end of September.

With the deal, the Locus bots that alphabroder had already been using prior to the acquisition came under the S&S umbrella too.

Taken in totality, the robust presence of AMRs in S&S-owned distribution centers has put the company at the forefront of distribution center technology in the promotional products industry, executives say.

“It was no longer feasible to grow through hiring alone – we needed the productivity improvements that come with automation,” says Brian Beale, S&S’s chief technology and transformation officer. About PopPick in particular, he adds: “The system has enabled us to provide our customers with much quicker turnaround on orders. We’re able to scale to keep up with the consistent growth we’ve been experiencing.”

Sbhd: An Automated Dance

Imagine if the skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline started moving in a choreographed dance up and down the avenues of New York City, never colliding, working in easy unison. That’s a bit what it’s like to watch PopPick robots go to work in S&S’s distribution centers.

ASI Media witnessed it firsthand on a recent visit to the supplier’s warehouse just outside Reading, PA. The bots aren’t humanoid, but rather somewhat oval-shaped wheeled platforms that rise a foot or so off the ground.

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Caption: PopPick robots waiting to go into action at S&S Activewear’s (asi/84358) distribution center near Reading, PA.

Powered by artificial intelligence, they swiftly move through a city-like series of high-reaching stacks of apparel-packed totes, selecting the stack with items needed for a particular order.

Then, following a trail of QR codes printed on the floor, the bots transport the stack to a station where a pick-to-light (PTL) button system directs a waiting employee on which products to select and how many. From a tote that the AI-driven system puts right at their fingertips, the employee quickly packs up the T-shirts or hoodies or other apparel and sends them on their way for shipping.

Executives say the advantages of the system are manifold – for S&S and its distributor and decorator customers.

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Caption: ASI Media Executive Editor Christopher Ruvo chats with RJ Gilgore, operations manager at S&S Activewear’s Reading, PA, distribution center, about the Counselor Top 40 supplier’s use of PopPick – an advanced mobile robotics solution that streamlines warehouse operations.

“In our old method of picking, an associate had to drive to the correct location in the facility, select the right product from racks full of different items and put them into the proper box without the use of a PTL system,” explains Beale. “Presenting the proper tote to the picker simplifies the task requirement and tremendously increases picking accuracy.”

Expanding on that, S&S executives say the bots have vastly improved operational efficiency, enabling S&S to better serve customers, all while helping to create a better employee experience through simplifying the job, reducing physical strain and making warehouses safer through less movements of forklifts and the like.

“Since deploying the PopPick system, we’ve seen picking production rates increase from 40 picks per hour to more than 150 picks per hour,” says Cole Lohman, director of automation at S&S. “The system has also empowered us to offer better designed and safer jobs, which as a result, has reduced turnover by 75%. Additionally, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in order picking accuracy.”