United Drug Partners with Locus Robotics to Deploy AMRs to Improve Warehouse Productivity, Accuracy, & Safety

United Drug, Ireland’s largest pharmaceutical distribution company has partnered with Locus Robotics, the industry leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for warehouse fulfilment, to deploy 21 LocusBots at their Baldonnel Dublin distribution centre to improve customer order fulfilment productivity. The innovative, robot-driven warehouse automation system will also ensure order pick accuracy and improve workplace quality, ergonomics, and safety. The Dublin site deployment is the first of its kind in Ireland.

With the rapid increases in online volume, coupled with the lack of available labour, health care distributors have been challenged to rapidly scale to meet growing wholesale and consumer demand for quick, accurate, and cost-effective order fulfilment. Deploying Locus AMRs within United Drug’s Baldonnel warehouse will proactively position them to meet these demands with a scalable, proven, and cost-effective solution.

“This partnership reflects our ongoing commitment to deploy innovative logistics solutions that use advanced technology to address increasingly complex fulfilment challenges,” says Paul Malone, Head of Operations for UDD & UDC at United Drug Ireland. “In a tight labour market, the Locus solution helps us to efficiently optimise productivity across our existing labour force so that we can enhance our customer service levels.”

“We are proud to partner with United Drug to deploy our powerful and efficient multi-bot solution to support their warehouse operations in Baldonnel, Dublin,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “Our purpose-built robotics solution seamlessly addresses the needs of United Drug’s distribution warehouses by eliminating unproductive worker walking time to dramatically improve picking volumes and shorten order cycle times. In addition, Locus helps to ensure key worker health, ergonomic, and safety.”

Powered by LocusOne, the industry’s smartest, fully integrated warehouse orchestration and execution platform, LocusBots are engineered for maximum warehouse efficiency, delivering optimal productivity utilising the latest navigation and vision system technologies. LocusBots navigate autonomously through the warehouse working closely and safely with associates to improve order picking productivity and throughput efficiency. They can be flexibly and seamlessly deployed as demand changes, supporting a diverse range of picking strategies and workflows.