Case Study: Zappos.com achieves rapid, scalable automated order fulfillment and faster shipping with Honeywell Intelligrated

Honeywell Intelligrated “Wows” Zappos With New Automated Order Fulfillment Center

Zappos.com, the fast-growing online shoe and apparel retailer known for its “wow” customer service, outgrew its largely manual fulfillment operations in 2005 and needed a faster, scalable system to support live inventory, free overnight shipping, and much shorter order cycle times. To meet these challenges Zappos partnered with Arup and vendor Honeywell (Honeywell Intelligrated) to modernize its 416,000 sq. ft. Shepherdsville, KY distribution center using automated material handling equipment and controls.

Honeywell installed a comprehensive solution—high-speed sliding shoe sorters, motor-driven roller conveyors (Accuglide), print-and-apply modules, and Honeywell warehouse control and monitoring software integrated with Zappos’ WMS—cutting conveyor travel time from ~35 minutes to 5 minutes and bringing average fulfillment cycle times down to about five hours with the capability to process orders in under one hour. The system more than doubled shipping capacity (holiday peak of 42,000 units vs. 23,000 previously), enabled next‑day delivery for the majority of late-night orders, reduced distribution and labor costs, and delivered the scalability and uptime Zappos required—results attributed directly to Honeywell.

Zappos.com

Craig Adkins

Vice President