Boots, the UK’s leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, and Locus Robotics, the market leader in autonomous mobile robots for fulfilment warehouses, have been named the winners of the 2020 Supply Chain Excellence Award for “Best Use of Robotics.” The Supply Chain Excellence Awards, now in their 24th year, are recognised for their rigorous judging process and have become a benchmark for best practices in the Supply Chain, attracting entries from across the UK and Europe.
Award judges praised the seamless implementation of the Locus solution and applauded the solution for its improvement in throughput capacity.
Boots UK partnered with Locus Robotics early in 2019, deploying 135 autonomous, mobile, and collaborative LocusBots in their Burton-upon-Trent, UK warehouse facility to support anticipated holiday season volume growth. LocusBots are designed to work collaboratively with human associates, travelling to picking locations, and reducing physical demand to improve the worker experience while simultaneously increasing throughput.
The deployment was a fast success, with LocusBots driving a 200% increase in productivity and picking over 3 million items on behalf of Boots throughout the Black Friday season (November 21 through December 2). The Locus solution also improved workplace culture, with a 77% reduction in worker accidents and a significant reduction in worker absences and attrition, with cross-generational acceptance of the Locus technology.
Boots scaled up its Locus solution deployment in January 2020 to include over 200 robots in its UK facility. The retailer’s timely decision to expand its robotic fleet benefited it greatly during the unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic when shopping moved from in-store to online.
Prior to Locus, Boots had been an early adopter of fixed infrastructure automation to improve its warehouse operations. However, it realised that its systems were already reaching capacity limits and they were forecasting an escalating demand ahead of the 2019 peak. The Locus solution gave it a flexible and effective solution, enabling Boots to overcome labour challenges and ensure a seamless customer experience.
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