______________________________________________________________________________________________ SUN Automation
Reimagining innovation
SUN Automation’ s ongoing evolution
Over the past 18 months, SUN Automation( SUN) has been undergoing a significant transformation, making strategic investments to improve efficiency and productivity. A major part of this effort has been optimizing its facilities. The company recently expanded its distribution center, integrating advanced Kardex Remstar vertical lift modules to streamline inventory management.“ These machines operate like two-story vending machines, retrieving inventory much faster than humans could,” explains Pat Carner, Senior Vice President of Operations. By automating these processes, SUN has significantly reduced order fulfillment time while allowing its team to develop new skills rather than replacing jobs.
“ Two machines were implemented two years ago, and we are currently incorporating two more as we speak,” says Carner.“ In addition, we also moved all the racking, including the cantilever, pallet racks, and about $ 20 million worth of stock inventory. It’ s very important for us to manage all this while continuing operations, building machines and servicing our customers, so that they don’ t experience any disruption at all. We did a study of how many steps it takes versus this automated element. With just one sales order, it saved over 30 minutes. One of the benefits, contrary to the common fear that it will replace human jobs, is that you can achieve more with the same team of people, and they also acquire new skills.”
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