Smart Warehousing, a national warehousing and fulfillment solutions company, has launched its state-of-the-art Innovation Hub in its original headquarters in Edgerton, Kansas. This move not only enables Smart to become one of the leading fulfillment players, but will also foster strategic partnerships with warehousing automation companies that will use the Kansas facility to test cutting-edge equipment in real-world scenarios.
The Innovation Hub is attached to a 500,000-square-foot warehouse, allowing Smart Warehousing to test and optimize its technology and automation in-house before deploying it to over 34 national warehouse locations.
“More than anything else, the Innovation Hub was built with our customers in mind,” Smart Warehousing CEO & Founder Carl Wasinger said. “Today’s supply chain is all about speed, and the Hub allows us to develop, test, optimize, and deploy the latest technology that makes fulfillment quicker and more accurate.”
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After moving its headquarters to Overland Park in August, Smart has been slowly transitioning its old HQ into a testing and training facility where it perfects proprietary software and automated tools in real-time. Because the Innovation Hub is connected to one of Smart’s national warehouses, the company can immediately implement the updates in-house.
The Innovation Hub perfects its technology through a six-step process: project focus and alignment with company vision, research, concept development, concept testing, impact measurement, and rollout. This launch solidifies Smart’s emphasis on technology and automation moving forward.
“20 years ago, we started as a warehousing company that used some technology — now we’re a technology company with some great warehousing,” Chief Technology Officer Learie Hercules said. “Our software will drive our growth and allow us to take on innovative fulfillment strategies for our clients.”
Along with many wearables, the Innovation Hub will include testing and development of data-capture devices, machine-learning devices, and automated robotics to streamline the picking, packing, and shipping process.
The move also allows Smart’s new leadership team — CEO & Founder Carl Wasinger, CTO Learie Hercules, CRO Lori Jones, CIO Tom Graham, and CFO Anna Hockey — to make data-driven decisions to drive business, both for themselves and their clients.