Urban Outfitters ultramodern facility to feature new robotic picking technology
$403M Urban Outfitters facility in KCK is on track to finish in the fall
“The new facility will be highly automated, incorporate robotics and provides the capacity necessary to support our fast-growing business. Our design is a modular solution which we believe is simple, flexible and adaptable to the future needs of our customers.”
Ahead of schedule, the $403 million Urban Outfitters distribution center, which plans to bring 2,000 jobs to Wyandotte County, will be completed in the fall.
The developer, Dallas-based Hillwood Development Co., and general contractor, New Jersey-based Blue Rock Construction, began construction on the 880,254-square-foot building in the fall of 2020 on 65 acres Kansas Speedway owns around 118th Street and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.
Construction on the distribution center, which is a large portion of the project, will be completed in October, said Mindy Rocha, owner of KCK-based CJ Industries, a subcontractor under Blue Rock. The Philadelphia-based fashion and lifestyle retailer will begin operations in the warehouse by June 2023.
The facility is slated to become the "heart" of Urban Outfitters' nationwide network, which Rocha, who grew up in the area and operates her business in Wyandotte County, said is huge for Kansas City, Kansas.
Building will feature a new fulfillment center that will feature smart picking robots and automated conveyors.
Urban Outfitters will implement a new robotic picking system at a new fulfillment center. This automated design builds upon a pilot program Urban Outfitters is running in the U.K. using the ‘Rovolution’ smart picking robot, which picks orders automatically and ensures the next phase of picking is being addressed.
The new system incorporates two ‘Rovolution’ workstations, along with 46 ‘PickCenter’ One workstations. Leveraging the automation, Urban Outfitters can use the horsepower or “engine” to pick orders discreetly. Urban Outfitters will incorporate the same workstations and software as it is using in the U.K. pilot.
At goods receiving, cartons are emptied into totes and transported to a storage warehouse, which is used to feed the shuttle system. Totes are then transported to 46 goods-to-person workstations, where items are picked into target totes. The different areas are connected by an energy-efficient KingDrive conveyor system. The warehouse control system interfaces with a Manhattan Associates warehouse management system.
Regardless of channel (brick-and-mortar or digital), the operational processes remain the same and operational training for associates and maintenance support is simplified globally.
Faced with an unprecedented surge in online orders and significant workforce disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of retailers have been relying more on robots to perform picking processes.
Specialty apparel retailers Gap Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters have both been scaling their picking and packing operations for online orders with the Sort smart robotic solution from Kindred. Sort piece-picking robots utilize AutoGrasp, a robotics intelligence platform that identifies and singulates items to pick and place into an automated putwall.
“The new facility will be highly automated, incorporate robotics and provides the capacity necessary to support our fast-growing business. Our design is a modular solution we believe is simple, flexible and adaptable to the future needs of our customers” said Melinda McClure, executive director of North American Logistics, Urban Outfitters.
Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters operates a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of Anthropologie, BHLDN, Free People, Terrain, Urban Outfitters, Nuuly, and a food and beverage division.
The state has agreed to pay Urban Outfitters $5 million through its Job Creation Fund Program, Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, documents show.
