a large contract logistics operator's regional distribution center serving multi-client shipping lines
How a Contract Logistics DC Lifted Shipping Productivity 2.5x in 3 Months
A regional contract logistics DC replaced cart picking with collaborative AMRs and reported shipping productivity rising from 42.9 to 110.8 items per hour in three months.
- 110.8/hr
- After rate
- 42.9/hr
- Before rate
- 2.5x
- Gain
- 3 months
- To results
Based on a documented real-world deployment. Figures are from public reporting; the organization is not named.
Shipping leaned on veteran cart pickers
A large contract logistics operator's regional distribution center serving multi-client shipping lines ran outbound picks from carts with routes that depended on experienced associates.
Labor was tight and daily line counts swung with client volume. Leadership needed higher items per hour without a full building redesign or losing accuracy on mixed-SKU orders.
- Veteran-dependent shipping workflows
- Cart picking across changing lines
- Need to standardize quality for temps
- Pressure to expand daily line capacity
Collaborative picking-assist AMRs on the floor
The site deployed collaborative picking-assist autonomous mobile robots that suggest pick paths and carry totes so associates spent less time walking aisles with carts.
Teams ran demonstrations and tests on live shipping work before scaling daily use. The focus stayed on standardizing tasks so newcomers and veterans followed the same robot-assisted steps.
- Pilot AMRs on live shipping picks
- Replace cart travel with robot carry
- Train mixed-skill teams on daily starts
- Track items per hour weekly during rollout
Measured shipping rates in three months
Within three months of operation, published reports cite shipping productivity rising from 42.9 items per hour to 110.8 items per hour, about 2.5 times the prior rate.
The same coverage notes steadier quality across new and veteran associates while freeing staff for higher-value tasks. Leadership planned warehouse system upgrades to grow supported lines from about five hundred per day toward one thousand per day.
What US contract logistics sites can take from this pattern
This story is a documented example, not a Service Robot Co. customer claim. It still shows why US 3PL and contract logistics operators compare picking-assist AMRs to hiring alone when shipping desks depend on a few veterans.
Service Robot Co. selects OEM-neutral picking AMRs, then finances, deploys, integrates, trains, and services units through a nationwide engineer network. A free site assessment maps pick paths, WMS hooks, and phased go-live before you expand daily line counts.