Gap Inc. automates inbound logistics with robots
Gap Inc. is increasing the efficiency of its inbound logistics operations at select distribution centers with robotic automation.
In an email to Chain Store Age, a representative for Boston Dynamics said specialty apparel retailer Gap is utilizing Boston Dynamics "Stretch" robots to automate the inbound processing of boxes into distribution centers in Tennessee, Ohio, New York, and California.
The Stretch robots are designed to supplement employees and reduce injuries while increasing the volume of inventory that can be received into a distribution center. One to two warehouse associates in the inbound department can now process 10,000 cases in a day; a task that would have taken 12 to 15 employees before the robots were implemented.
A human operator walks a Stretch robot into a corner and from there the device runs on its own, using machine learning and computer vision capabilities to detect cases as well as the ceiling, walls and other important elements of its surrounding environment.
The Stretch robot picks boxes with a vacuum gripper, places them on a conveyor belt and gets them inducted into the warehouse. The system can work with a variety of boxes, SKU sizes, and weights, and also can effectively manage damaged containers.
In addition, the robots’ automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) can detect labels and boxes so that the labels face scanners on the conveyor belt every time for better downstream recognition. Multipick capabilities increase the speed at which goods can flow through inbound logistics and Stretch helps Gap meet the demand for online fulfillment, which typically requires five times as much labor as brick-and-mortar fulfillment.
For employees, the Stretch robots relieve the strain of physically unloading thousands of boxes averaging 30 lbs. every day. They also enable Gap to spread inbound volume more evenly across shifts and reduce the need for scheduling human employes on weekend shifts. The robots are used three shifts a day, five to seven days a week.
Gap keeps rolling out robots
Gap has long been utilizing robots in its supply chain. The retailer deployed hundreds of Kindred Sort picking robots in its U.S. distribution centers in 2020, and also designed and integrated an Exotec Skypod System to optimize its returns picking process.
In 2021, the company acquired Context-Based 4 Casting Ltd. (CB4), a New York- and Tel Aviv-based retail artificial intelligence and machine learning platform
[READ MORE: CSA Exclusive: Gap Inc. exec talks about retailer’s supply chain transformation]
San Francisco-based Gap Inc. operated a total of 3,560 stores at the end of the third quarter of 2024 (2,562 company-operated and 998 franchise-operated), which includes 1,243 Old Navy North America stores and 472 Gap North America stores.
