IT distributor and PC manufacturer Leader Computers is saving hours getting stock ready to ship to its resellers following Dematic integrating AutoStore technology within its Sydney warehouse.
The automated solution was this month recognised as a winner at the annual Australian Supply Chain & Logistics Awards.
Leader Computers supplies exclusively to IT resellers, with a large client base across the country. They distribute products from over 70 vendors, including leading brands such as Microsoft, LG, Lenovo, Ubiquiti, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and Corsair. They also manufacture Leader Computer branded PCs, notebooks, tablets, and Intel white box series products.
Throughout the pandemic, as working from home and home-schooling took off, demand for IT infrastructure exploded. This led to Leader Computers experiencing increased orders from the resellers and more pressure on their warehouse operations.
In response to the increased demand and as a leading technology company, Leader Computers wanted to upgrade its warehouse with automation that would increase business efficiency, accuracy, and productivity, as well as make better use of available space.
“The requirements for this automation project were: one, save labour; two, save warehouse space; and three, for Leader Computers to walk the talk of how using technology to improve business,” said David Lamb, consulting manager, Dematic.
AutoStore is an automated storage, goods-to-person (GTP) picking, and fulfilment system designed to maximise warehouse space and minimise manual labour.
“The Dematic solution features an AutoStore system with nine robots, three goods-to-person ports, and 6,662 bins,” Lamb explained
“Palletised products are manually delivered to an AutoStore port, where an operator receives and loads them into totes delivered by robots. As receiving tasks are completed, robots collect the totes for delivery to the high-density storage grid. As orders are received, robots then retrieve totes and deliver them in sequence to operators at two carousel ports.”
The Leader Computers warehouse in Lidcombe in western Sydney stores approximately 8,500 product SKUs, from very large server racks and monitors to very small products such as thumb drives and CPUs.
“Before the Dematic solution was implemented, a large order of a few different types of hard drives would take five to six hours to pick. With this new AutoStore system, they’ve been able to pick a similar type of order in just 30 minutes,” said Lamb.
The Dematic solution has already been built for significant annual growth over three years. However, the AutoStore grid can also be easily expanded and progressively filled with bins and additional robots as SKU and storage demand increases, all with minimal interruption to operations.
“Leader’s purpose is to help our resellers grow and be highly profitable. We are always looking at ways to get stock to our resellers quickly,” said Theo Kristoris, managing director, Leader Computers.
“This solution allows us to ship fast and on-time to thousands of MSPs and IT resellers in Australia. We are proud to be at the cutting edge of technology and to bring this automation to our resellers,” Kristoris said.
The implementation took only eight weeks, even during a period of COVID-19 interruptions. Dematic continues to offer 24-hour on-call support and scheduled maintenance.
“It’s been an honour to collaborate with Dematic on a pioneering project for Leader Computers, and we are pleased to see more supply chain businesses embracing advanced technologies to further enhance productivity and efficiencies. Over the years, we have established a relationship built on trust and innovation and this project bears testament to this,” said Jason Wu, AutoStore business development manager, ANZ.