PUMA Increases Warehouse Capacity 10X

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Introducing PUMA

Founded in 1948 in Herzogenaurach, Germany, PUMA has a long history in sports. As one of the world’s top sports brands, it is synonymous with speed. Named after the large cat, founder Rudolph Dassler wanted athletes wearing his gear to have the speed, agility, and smoothness of a puma.

This goal the company continues with such historic events as the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin when Jesse Owens won four gold medals while wearing Dassler spikes. And in modern times with Usain Bolt.

Today PUMA is the third-largest sports retailer in the world, designing and manufacturing athletic and casual apparel, footwear, and accessories. PUMA distributes products to over 120 countries and, in the USA, the company has built a new distribution center in Indianapolis, Indiana, to meet its growing online business.

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"It's very clear that AutoStore enables us and is one of the key success factors here"

Watch PUMA's Head of Global Logistics, Thomas Liske, talk more about his experiences of the AutoStore Advantage:

About PUMA's AutoStore System

In 2016, PUMA and NFI Cal Cartage, who manages the building and daily operations, saw tremendous improvements on their operations when they installed the AutoStore Red Line, empowered by Bastian Solutions, in a Torrance, California, distribution center (DC). This allowed PUMA to expand its order fulfillment services from only shipping out footwear for e-commerce orders to consolidating its fulfillment locations into a single facility. For the next four years, PUMA distributed all its different apparel, accessories, and footwear lines from here.

But even with the modularity and expansion ease of AutoStore, PUMA realized they were running out of space and capacity at the Torrance facility.

“To be honest, we were about to burst in Torrance,” shares Philon. “If you look at our business and the acceleration we had planned… we felt we needed to investigate a secondary distribution center.”

The focus became how to reach the 75% of its customers located on the East Coast. So, PUMA and NFI Cal Cartage settled on a center located near Indianapolis, Indiana, to better serve its customers.

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Upgrade to Black Line

For the new center, PUMA and NFI Cal Cartage decided on AutoStore and its new Black Line and Router software. The Indianapolis DC is designed to handle high volume and low unit orders, perfect for e-commerce.

“The reason we went with the AutoStore Black Line is because it was the next evolution of the Red Line. It keeps going and going, and allows us to achieve the speed,” says John Amato, Senior Vice President at NFI Cal Cartage.

PUMA designed the Indianapolis facility with expansion in mind. The current Grid will hold up to 305,000 Bins making it the largest AutoStore in North America. The Grid itself takes up about 12,356 square meters (133,000 square feet), which is slightly less than three American football fields in a facility campus covering 59,457 square meters (640,000 square feet). While not at 100% capacity, there are only 150,000 Bins currently in process, this Grid is ready for increased production through the addition of more Bins and CarouselPorts.

Maximizing Benefits: PUMA's Success with AutoStore

The AutoStore system at Indianapolis DC has greatly impacted PUMA’s operations. From the increase in Bin delivers per hour, to reduced shipping times and the ability to quickly train new staff, the AutoStore system is providing support for PUMA to move into the future.

Speed

“This AutoStore system is significantly faster,” tells Curry. “It has allowed us to ship out more e-commerce orders this past November than we have in the history of the account.”

With AutoStore, PUMA can ship over 100,000 same-day orders, even during peak times. "We have evolved from basically a two-week delivery on peak days to more or less same-day delivery on Black Fridays. We are very proud of the speed at which we can deliver to our customers," says Head of Global Logistics, Thomas Liske.

“AutoStore has helped PUMA better serve the customer because of the speed to market. We're competing in the world of Amazon, where everyone expects something within one day. So, getting the order out as quickly as possible is really the goal. And the AutoStore solution helps us do that,” explains Melissa Curry, Regional VP of Operations for NFI Cal Cartage.

“What we are realizing in Indianapolis and the ability of the Black Line... First, it's fast. Superfast. There is no downtime. So, we can be active 24/7. And the Bins are bigger, helping us service our growing footwear business there in Indianapolis,” explains Philon.

Operational efficiency

AutoStore has significantly improved operational efficiency at PUMA. Thomas Liske elaborates; "Besides the speed of delivery to the customer, we also have seen the quality go up significantly. We now see a 99% hit rate in order accuracy. This is where AutoStore can help a lot because you get a very consistent accuracy and delivery."

Upgrading to the AutoStore Black Line has further improved operational efficiency. The company is seeing a 25% increase in Bin deliveries per hour, and it has allowed PUMA to increase capacity more than 10 times.

“We are right now a year in Black Friday. Since March 2020, we have pretty much every day a Black Friday business. Even 50% more we serviced over the regular Black Friday,” shares Helmut Leibbrandt, PUMA Senior VP Supply Chain, Americas.

Storage density

While speed is important, another development of AutoStore in partnership with PUMA was the creation of a new Bin size. The Black Line includes a 425mm Bin, designed to allow for the storage of shoeboxes on their end which means more boxes fit in a Bin creating even greater storage density in the AutoStore Grid.

Employee satisfaction

Implementing AutoStore at PUMA has significantly improved employee satisfaction, as highlighted by Thomas Liske, Global Logistics Director at PUMA. He contrasts the traditional warehouse environment, often perceived as dark, dirty and strenuous, with the new AutoStore setup. "Now we can see people are very proud of working in an AutoStore environment, which is very clean and technology-driven," Liske remarks. This shift has not only enhanced the working conditions but also fostered a positive spirit among employees, transforming the warehouse into a motivating and efficient workspace.

Flexibility

“The AutoStore solution is a very flexible solution… you can easily add Bins, you can easily add Robots, you can easily add pick Ports, you can easily add receiving Ports. So, it's a very, very flexible system. Therefore, we have also been able to choose AutoStore,” states Leibbrandt.

“It has been a great advancement onto what was already a success in Torrance in the Red Line,” says Philon. “I think if you are a CEO, and you are not looking at those advantages, I think you're crazy.”

‍Conclusion: PUMA's Strides Forward with AutoStore

PUMA's integration of AutoStore technology marks a significant leap in their global logistics and warehousing strategy. From increased operational efficiency and storage density to improved employee satisfaction and unmatched flexibility, AutoStore has fundamentally transformed PUMA's approach to e-commerce fulfillment. This innovative journey, from the initial Red Line installation in Torrance to the largest AutoStore Black Line setup in North America at Indianapolis, showcases PUMA's commitment to staying at the forefront of logistics technology. As PUMA continues to navigate the competitive landscape of sports retail, their partnership with AutoStore stands as a testament to the power of innovation in driving business success and setting new industry standards. With their eyes firmly set on future growth and adaptation, PUMA and AutoStore together are redefining what it means to be a leader in the fast-paced world of e-commerce.