HBC unveils first-in-Canada robotic fulfillment system

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Nov 8, 2016

The Hudson’s Bay Company unveiled on Friday a new state-of-the-art robotic fulfillment system at its 752,000-square-foot distribution center located in Scarborough, Ontario. The center which supports e-commerce for HBC’s Hudson’s Bay department store, is the first of its kind in Canada and showcases some of the most advanced automated distribution technology in the retail sector.
 

The system is expected to contribute to a seamless experience for customers and further support Hudson’s Bay’s all-channel retail capabilities.
 
The way it works is two robots automate insertion of packing lists, while 15,000 feet of conveyor and a fleet of approximately 300 autonomous robotic delivery vehicles—iBOTs—move inventory for storing and shipping, enabling the company to deliver orders three times faster than other distribution centers.

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The system is 12 to 15 times faster than a traditional manual process, it can hold more than one million units of inventory and can process roughly 4,200 customer orders per hour.
 
“Our customers will benefit from the country’s fastest order shipping system,” says Jerry Storch, HBC’s Chief Executive Officer, in a news statement. “We are proud to be the first to bring this industry-leading technology to Canada, in time for the busy holiday season. This investment in our Scarborough Distribution Center creates an e-commerce technology hub and allows us to expand our e-commerce business, which is a key component to our all-channel strategy.”