Today, Exotec SAS said that its Skypod-powered warehouse automation solution has enabled First Supply LLC to offer next-morning delivery at scale for orders placed by 5:00 p.m. As a wholesale supplier of HVAC, builder, plumbing, lighting, waterworks, and other industrial supplies, First Supply faces intense demand to support contractors as they keep projects moving.
According to Steve Baer, chief logistics officer at First Supply, the 129-year-old company was operating dozens of branches in the upper Midwest. It was looking for a way to grow while also ensuring its inventory was in the right places. The answer was its Greenfield Distribution Center and the Skypod system at the heart of it.
“We wanted to be as efficient, ergonomic, good for the community, good for the employees, and good for the environment as we could,” Baer told Automated Warehouse. “In order to grow, we need to make sure that we’re sustainable. You can’t necessarily use robotics for everything, but where we could use robotics, we wanted to augment our employees so we could grow.”
Why did First Supply pick Exotec?
When First Supply set out to find an automation provider, Baer said the Madison, Wis.-based company looked at everything available on the market.
“We looked all different kinds of technology, from very basic robotics all the way up to the very sophisticated robotics,” said Baer. “As we learned more, and as we thought more and more about our business, we thought that a goods-to-person solution that ate up very little floor space would be the right kind of a choice, so that narrowed the solution set.”
From there, Baer said cost was one of the biggest factors. “We’re a family owned, fifth-generation-run private company, and we didn’t have an unlimited checkbook,” he explained. “So, we wanted to make sure that the solution we chose would be able to be affordable now and scale for the future.”
Time is essential for First Supply’s customer base, which made next-day delivery an even more important goal.
“Our customers are the contractors that come to your house to fix your bathroom or remodel your kitchen, and time is money,” noted Baer. “If they’re missing something, they can’t wait for days and days to finish the job, so it’s very important that we’re able to fulfill that quickly.”
Inside First Supply’s Skypod system
Skypod is Exotec’s grid-based automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS). The company‘s dense storage, and its ability to utilize all 40-feet of the warehouse’s vertical space, were important features for First Supply.
With Exotec’s ASRS, First Supply saw a fourfold growth in storage capacity without needing to expand existing racking footprint. It was also able to maintain 30% additional capacity for future hardware expansion.
“We worked with Exotec to tune the process flow. We were fast enough at induction and fast enough at picking, but equally we had to make sure we didn’t have any bottlenecks at packing or the conveyance,” recalled Baer. “So Exotec helped us with managing that.”
While Exotec’s Skypod automation mostly works as an off-the-shelf system, Baer said the company did help troubleshoot some early problems.
“One interesting thing was that the conveyors didn’t really like the really lightweight stuff,” he said. “So, if you put one pin on the conveyor, it’s not going to go very far. We figured out a way to create some standard post office trays for letters that we use for lighter stuff to travel around the conveyors.”
First Supply picks 10 times faster with Skypod
First Supply reported 10 times faster picking speeds with Skypod compared with manual processes while still handling more than 14,000 SKUs. For the employees, this meant decreased travel time and distance.
Baer noted that First Supply sees AI and robotics as a key to growth, not a way to cut headcount.
“I’m always looking at AI as an enabler. I’m looking at it as a way to grow,” he said. “I’m not looking at it as a way to get rid of a bunch of people. It’s all about growing the business and developing our people as best we can.”
To keep employees engaged while working with the system, Baer said First Supply rotates people among workstations so they have variety in their work. The company also worked with Exotec to ensure the ergonomics of the picking station were optimal for every employee.
“We spent a lot of time thinking about interfacing with the robotic system,” Baer said. “Fifty years ago, it was probably all men in a facility like ours. Now, it’s 50/50 men and women, and so we want to be really careful about the ergonomics. If the average woman is shorter than the average man, we want to make sure that tables aren’t too tall, for example.”
First Supply has also taken feedback from employees on how to make its system perform better.
“I’m a firm believer that people are smart,” Baer asserted. “When they’re doing their job at their workstation, they figure out things to make their job a little faster or a little more comfortable. So, we’ve taken cues or employee suggestions in terms of how they can pick and package the product more easily, and implemented these.”
Skypod helps First Supply keep up with rapid spikes in demand
In addition to meeting daily peak demand, Exotec’s warehouse automation technology helped First Supply with an exceptional situation. When massive flash flooding hit southeastern Wisconsin last summer, First Supply quickly delivered products that the community needed to hundreds of affected customers.
Baer said he remembered this day well, because the team had an employee event at the distribution center. They had to move the event inside because of the strong rain.
“That rain moved across the state and got worse as it went to the eastern side of the state, and there were all kinds of flash floods,” said Baer. “When the flash flood and water gets into people’s basements, it ruins all kinds of different hardware.”
As Baer pointed out, a restaurant or hotel can’t operate without a hot water heater or other essential utilities. Even with the increased orders, the company was able to get all of those items out in time.