AutoStore Boosts SLK’s Daily Throughput by Over 150%

SLK is a South Korea based logistics company providing third-party logistics (3PL) services, including warehouse operations, order fulfillment, inventory management, and logistics center management for a wide range of B2B and B2C clients. The company focuses on building stable, efficient, and scalable logistics environments tailored to customer needs.

As order volumes increased and service expectations rose, particularly during peak seasons, SLK recognized the need to upgrade its warehouse operations with automation that could deliver higher efficiency, accuracy, and long-term scalability.

To achieve this, SLK implemented the AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system, empowered by Asetec.

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The Challenge: Warehouse Operations Before AutoStore

Before implementing AutoStore, SLK faced several operational constraints:

• Limited storage capacity within existing warehouse space
• Heavy dependence on manual labor
• Frequent picking and inventory errors
• High physical workload and stress during peak periods

During peak times, especially after lunch and before daily shipping cutoffs, employees were required to move quickly across long warehouse routes to pick items manually. This led to fatigue, increased error rates, and pressure to avoid shipment delays, making consistent operations difficult to maintain.

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The Solution: Why SLK Chose AutoStore

SLK reviewed multiple automation options and chose AutoStore due to its strengths in space efficiency, operational accuracy, and scalability.

Traditional warehouse solutions rely on horizontal shelving, which limits storage density. AutoStore uses a cube-based, three-dimensional storage structure that allows significantly more inventory to be stored within the same footprint.

The robot-based Goods-to-Person system also improves picking speed and accuracy while reducing physical strain on employees. In addition, AutoStore enables flexible expansion by adding robots or modules as order volumes or SKU counts increase.

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How the System Works

With AutoStore in place, SLK’s daily warehouse operations changed fundamentally:

• Inventory is stored in a compact, cube-based grid
• Robots retrieve bins from the grid
• Goods are delivered directly to fixed operator workstations
• Employees perform picking without walking long distances

This workflow minimizes movement, simplifies operations, and allows robots to handle repetitive tasks while employees focus on picking, quality checks, and inventory accuracy.

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Benefits and Measurable Results

Operational KPI Improvements

• Throughput:
  From an average of 10,000 orders per day to over 25,000 orders per day; a throughput increase of more than 150%
• Picking speed:
  From an average of 90 seconds per order to approximately 30 seconds
• Error rate:
  From 1 to 2 percent to below 0.01 percent
• Labor and operating costs:
  Approximately 40 percent annual cost reduction due to reduced reliance on manual labor

Quality and Service Performance

• Inventory management error rate:
  From approximately 4 percent to below 0.01 percent
• Same-day shipping rate:
  From 85 to 88 percent to over 99.9 percent
• Picking accuracy:
  From approximately 94 percent to over 99.9 percent

These results significantly improved logistics reliability and customer satisfaction.

Impact on Employees and Workplace Culture

Beyond operational metrics, AutoStore had a strong impact on daily working conditions.

Previously, repetitive and physically demanding picking tasks caused fatigue and stress. After automation, robots took over repetitive movements, allowing employees to work in a more stable and efficient environment.

As a result:

• Physical workload decreased
• Work became calmer and more predictable
• Team collaboration increased
• Employees spent more time on value-added tasks such as inventory management and quality checks

Overall, the warehouse atmosphere became more positive and stable.

Customer Impact and 3PL Performance

SLK’s customers, particularly 3PL clients, experienced the most noticeable improvements in delivery speed and accuracy.

Issues such as shipment delays and picking errors, which previously caused customer complaints during peak seasons, were largely eliminated. Same-day shipping rates and picking accuracy exceeded 99.9 percent.

In one example, a specific 3PL customer experienced a doubling of peak-season order volume, while customer claims were reduced by more than half.

Conclusion and Future Expansion

SLK’s logistics strategy focuses on providing stable, efficient, and customer-optimized services. Through automation and data-driven operations, the company aims to maintain fast and accurate fulfillment, real-time inventory visibility, and reliable performance even during order surges.

Looking ahead, SLK expects its logistics centers to become increasingly automated and intelligent, with robots and advanced systems supporting inventory management, picking, packing, and shipping, allowing employees to focus on higher-value work.

Project Specifications

• Robots: 50 R5 Robots
• Workstations (Ports): 8 CarouselPorts, 3 ConveyorPorts
• Bins (totes): 43,000 Bins
• Integration partner: Asetec