At Quiet Logistics, there has been more than one occasion where one of the Kiva robots hit a person and Welty himself has had this experience which to say the least is unpleasant. Founded in 2009, Quiet Logistics is a third party logistics (3PL) company that provides of order fulfillment services for $1 billion of merchandise to the e-commerce channel on behalf of over 30 fashion branded companies such as Gilt Groupe, Zara International, Bonobos, Bluefly, Ministry of Supply, M. Gemi, The Fancy and Maggy London. The company operates two distribution centers totaling 459,000 square feet in Devens, MA: 1. A 275,000 square foot distribution center in the Devens Industrial Park has a clear height of 32 feet. An automated picking system with 200 Kiva robots is deployed in this building. The orange robots move pods of inventory to work stations where goods are processed inbound into inventory and outbound for order fulfillment. 2. A 184,000 square foot distribution center with a clear height of 30 feet. This facility handles a variety of flat pack, hanging garments and shoes from fashion companies shipping e-commerce orders nationwide. In this building, Locus Robotics has deployed a 4,000 sq. ft. test area to develop their autonomous robots. Quiet Logistics Invests in Kiva Systems – Lessons Learned Quiet Logistics was the first 3PL company to invest into Kiva Systems back in 2009. In fact the company’s name originates from the fact that Kiva’s robots are quiet when they are at work. Most third party logistics firms live in a world of uncertainty because their client companies can move their distribution operation elsewhere whenever it suits their purpose. This is why it is highly unusual for a 3PL company to invest significant capital into material handling automation equipment. This visionary decision ultimately served the […]