S&S Activewear LLC, a leading technology-enabled distributor of apparel and accessories, has more than 4 million sq. ft. of warehouse space across North America. The Bolingbrook, Ill.-based company today said it has expanded its partnership with with Körber Supply Chain Software and Geekplus Technology Co. to optimize its warehouse operations in Reno, Nev., and Reading, Pa.
“Our expanded use of automation and robotics technologies demonstrates the strength of our commitment to our customers and our employees,” stated Frank Myers, CEO of S&S Activewear. “We’re able to fulfill customer orders in a fraction of the time required with legacy systems while also creating a safer, more streamlined environment for our employees.”
Founded in 1988, the company offers more than 80 brands. It serves a broad range of customers through its nationwide network, including retail brands, e-commerce companies, garment decorators, promotional products distributors, entertainment merchandisers, lifestyle brands, and Web-based platforms for apparel customization.
Automation accelerates orders at S&S Activewear
S&S Activewear has introduced more than 200 Geek+ autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to both its 800,000-sq.-ft. facility in Reno and its 650,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Reading. Both distribution centers house 2,750 racks storing 110,000 totes.
Körber Supply Chain integrated its software and Geek+’s goods-to-person (G2P) robots into S&S’s facilities. The companies previously rolled out AMRs for picking at S&S’s warehouse in Lockport, Ill., and S&S discussed its plans to scale with Automated Warehouse in July.
The Reno facility’s automation debuted in the summer, followed by Reading in the fall. Both facilities are now operating at full capacity. S&S said the deployment of the new PopPick system will increase the speed and accuracy of customer orders.
“Since deploying the PopPick system in our Illinois distribution center, we’ve not only seen production rates jump from 40 picks per hour to 150 picks per hour and a drastic increase in picking accuracy, but turnover has also decreased by 75% as many of the typical warehouse safety risks have been reduced or eliminated,” said Brian Beale, chief technology officer of S&S Activewear.
“We expect to see similar results as we integrate the PopPick system into our operations at our Reno and Reading facilities,” he added.
Geek+, Körber earn recognition for integrated systems
The latest upgrades to the PopPick system earned Geek+ a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award. Körber, a unit of Hamburg, Germany-based Körber AG, recently recognized S&S Activewear for its achievements in facility optimization with a customer award at the 2024 Elevate Conference.
The company’s initial implementation was recently honored with the NextGen End User Award for Robotics. S&S was also named to Inc.’s Best in Business 2024 list for Operational Excellence. S&S plans to roll out the automation system in more distribution centers in 2025.