The Growing Role of Robotics in Distribution and Manufacturing
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Suppliers are using automation strategically in areas where speed, repetition, and labor pressure collide. Customer turnaround times aren’t getting any longer, keeping and training employees isn’t getting any easier, and the need for efficiency hasn’t become less important.
More suppliers and manufacturers in the apparel and promotional products industries have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) as these pressures continue to grow. As digital AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, etc.) continue to improve business workflows, physical AI is making a name for itself as companies implement robotics to help with order picking and handling.
Where Robots Have Been and Where They’re Going
Historically, robotics implementation has been difficult due to a pure lack of physical AI data, says David Goldberg, co-founder at Red Rabbit Robotics. Digital AI is a totally different animal. Because of years of content and text living on the internet, OpenAI, for example, was able to train its models on all that text that’s ever existed online.
“Humans have very little physical world data that we’ve captured at scale, so because of that, the capabilities of these robots, even the ones we’re building, start off very rudimentary, not capable,” Goldberg explains. “They look cool, but they don’t do anything useful, and this is something we see in looking at tons of humanoid robot companies. By getting specialized and focused on a specific industry, that’s where we feel like we can really build compelling products that actually are quite useful.”
Today, apparel suppliers and manufacturers have found success in adding autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) into the mix – helping with fulfillment needs and keeping workers safer.
4 Takeaways from Red Rabbit Robotics
David Goldberg, co-founder of Red Rabbit Robotics, shares his outlook on physical AI in promotional products production.
- Physical AI is in its infancy.
“I think the good news is people have time because physical AI is an infancy stage, but I think it's like all things AI. The timelines start to accelerate much faster than people realize ...,” Goldberg says.
- Labor remains manufacturing's biggest constraint.
“At the end of the day, decorating promo products is a labor problem, mostly,” Goldberg says. “The core input that is constrained is labor ... that's why the Custom Inks will use a contract decorator instead of doing it themselves. Because they just don't want to manage the labor — not only sourcing the labor, but then just managing people at scale is quite painful.”
- Automation could strengthen domestic production.
“I think people are looking at how can we make the U.S. more of a manufacturing hub, and the way that we've done manufacturing over the past hundreds of years, since really the Industrial Revolution, has not changed at all,” Goldberg says.
- Humans will remain in the process.
“Fundamentally, this is the shift that’s occurring: You’ll go from humans doing the repetitive hands-on labor to robots doing the repetitive hands-on labor with humans supervising them,” Goldberg says.
Operational Challenges Demand Technology Innovations
For S&S, the No. 2 top supplier in the promotional products industry, robots from Locus Robotics solve key operational challenges and help the company improve customer service. Brian Beale, chief technology officer at S&S, says robots help the company maintain a certain level of service to its customers — delivering orders quickly, accurately, and consistently — no matter the order size or time of year.
As order volumes were rapidly increasing and labor in its warehouses continued to become more difficult — finding, training, and keeping staff — it needed to make a change.
“Rather than relying solely on adding headcount, we began investing in automation before the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to support long-term growth while enhancing the customer experience,” Beale says. “When the pandemic intensified labor challenges across the industry, we accelerated our automation strategy. Automation has helped us scale more efficiently, improve consistency, and continue delivering the speed and accuracy our customers depend on.”
Operationally, it’s had a major impact, shifting the company from “a traditional, labor-intensive person-to-goods workflow — where team members walk long distances through warehouse aisles — to a goods-to-person model with robot-assisted fulfillment,” Beale explains.
In facilities using its distribution automation systems, products get delivered directly to ergonomic workstations, and pick-to-light technology guides staff to the correct items and quantities, Beale shares. Team members work within designated zones while the AMRs move orders between zones, reducing walking and travel time for workers.
“These technologies allow our team to focus more on efficient and accurate order fulfillment while improving productivity, scalability, and service levels as the business continues to grow,” Beale says. “They also create a better work environment by reducing walking, repetitive movement, and physical strain associated with traditional warehouse operations. By bringing products directly to associates and streamlining workflows, automation helps create a safer, more ergonomic workplace where team members can focus on quality and accuracy.”
And S&S isn’t the only top supplier exploring technology to aid in distribution operations. Gildan, a manufacture of blank apparel and No. 3 on Counselor’s Top Supplier list, has introduced robots for many of the same reasons.
In June 2025, Gildan announced the introduction of robot-assisted transportation, including approximately 19 “putaway and picking robots” in its Eden, North Carolina distribution center. The robots assist with transportation of full product cases, minimizing walk time for workers and enhancing worker safety.
“I’m excited for our distribution teams to engage with this new automation technology,” Bill Griffin, director of distribution operations, said in the press release. “In addition to improving operator and facility safety, this technology is expected to improve efficiency and quality of the workflow, firmly supporting the Gildan Sustainable Growth strategy’s three pillars of capacity-driven growth, innovation, and ESG.”
The ROI of Robots
From improved fulfillment speeds to accuracy and a better employee experience, the introduction of robots into fulfillment centers has a real impact.
“In facilities utilizing our distribution automation systems, picking productivity increased from roughly 40 picks per hour to more than 150 picks per hour,” Beale shares. “Workplace strain and safety risks have also declined, contributing to a 75% reduction in warehouse team member turnover. We've also seen meaningful improvements in picking accuracy, helping ensure customers receive the right products on time and as expected.”
Some other promising stats that make a case for physical AI, according to Beale:
- Facilities using Locus Robotics have seen a 25% improvement in throughput.
- Training time for new associates was reduced by half or more.
With an order accuracy rate of 99.9% across its distribution network, S&S sees the real gains of adding robots into the fold of its facilities.
At Gildan, its robots can lift payloads of up to 600 lbs., working with operators to move cases of product between carts and designated locations for processing.
“Robot-assisted transportation is an important step towards digitizing, innovating, and optimizing certain components of our distribution processes, enabling us to expand our capabilities and better service our customers,” Tripp Parks, director of process improvement and project team member of the robotics initiative, stated in a press release.
This optimization then begs the question: “Will this robot take my job?”
Employee Interactions and Impact
It’s the number one concern across all AI innovations — digital or physical: Is this going to replace the need for the human element? The honest answer: In some ways, yes, but sources agree that new jobs will be created from this advancement in technology.
“One of the most common misconceptions about warehouse automation is that it's designed to replace people. In reality, automation is most effective when it works alongside experienced team members,” Beale stresses. “At S&S, our team members remain at the core of warehouse operations. While robots help move product efficiently throughout the facility, warehouse associates are responsible for picking, scanning, packing, managing exceptions, replenishing inventory, monitoring dashboards, and keeping workflow moving smoothly.”
Beale stresses that these systems are designed to support its associates better: “The result is a more efficient operation, a safer work environment, and a better overall customer experience. The combination of skilled associates and intelligent technology helps us deliver greater speed, consistency, and reliability for our customers.”
Gildan views the human vs. robot topic similarly, noting in a press release: “While the robots offer a significant opportunity for the company’s distribution centers, they also open new paths for growth and career development for employees, who are offered training and equipped with the skillset required to engage with the new technology. With its two-pronged benefits for both the supply chain and for Gildan’s people, this innovation will continue to better position the company for growth.”
To that point, Goldberg notes that jobs will shift, where humans will need to supervise and maintain the robots. That could be 20 years from now, but that shift will eventually happen, he notes.
“In human history, every time there's been a crazy innovation like this, there have been a lot of jobs created,” Goldberg adds. “There’s going to be infinite demand for companies to hire people who can make sure the robots are doing a good job, and as maintenance issues come up, as SLA issues come up, ensuring those are being operationally handled, and then there's a whole other group that has to teach the robot things.”
Looking ahead, Beale sees a future where automation continues to combine physical and digital AI.
“Robotics help move products more efficiently through our facilities, while intelligent forecasting and planning tools help ensure the right inventory is in the right place at the right time,” he says. “Together, these technologies help us improve service levels, increase efficiency, support our team members, and build a more resilient distribution network.”
But while companies are focused on improving fulfillment and inventory planning, Goldberg believes the next frontier lies in production itself.
The Future of Robots in Manufacturing
While today’s warehouse robots thrive on consistency, Goldberg believes the next generation of physical AI will be defined by its ability to operate in environments where consistency doesn’t have to exist. The promotional products industry presents a unique challenge because the product mix across orders varies, and the decoration or treatment of those products constantly changes.
A humanoid robot developed by Red Rabbit Robotics. | Credit: Red Rabbit Robotics
While having robots handle repeat actions and workflows is extremely valuable in distribution and fulfillment facilities, there’s a gap in the actual production and decoration of those goods. Traditionally, automation has struggled in these environments because it relies on predictability. Robots perform best when products arrive in the same orientation, location, and condition every time, which is rarely the case when stepping into real production environments, Goldberg says.
“I think historically the automation was kind of reliant on, ‘I have seen this shirt before many times, it's exactly folded the same way, and it's exactly organized the same way, and so therefore I can do my automation,’” Goldberg explains. “That’s not really the case ever in the actual industry, once you get inside a customer's facility. Every shirt's different, the way they're organized, the way they're folded, the way they're manipulated — it's all different.”
The challenge, he says, is developing robots that can adapt to products they’ve never encountered before. Done successfully, that capability could expand automation beyond moving products and into manufacturing — a shift that could help suppliers address one of the industry's biggest challenges: scaling highly customized production without relying solely on additional labor.
While it’s difficult to say how far out technology like this is, we know AI advances quickly. “I think the good news is people have time because physical AI is an infancy stage, but I think it's like all things AI. The timelines start to accelerate much faster than people realize because of the way the tech works — compounding exponential improvements,” Goldberg notes.
For suppliers and manufacturers evaluating automation, the payoff could be significant, as we’ve heard from some of the industry’s top suppliers. Goldberg drives that home, saying, “The companies who make the switch are going to flourish because they’ll be able to iterate and ship faster and build better products.”
