When Accuracy Is Everything, Guesswork Doesn’t Cut It

In healthcare, accuracy is essential. Concordance Healthcare Solutions, a leading medical-surgical distributor, supplies everything from band-aids to exam tables across the care continuum. But their traditional warehouse model, which relied on voice-pick systems and manual labor, left room for improvement.

Pickers pulled carts through the warehouse, choosing items for each tote without a clear view of weight, volume, or optimal grouping. Their error rate hovered around 0.07%. That s a strong number in most industries, but in healthcare even small mistakes can have serious consequences.

When Concordance decided to implement autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) from Locus Robotics to boost picking speed and reduce worker strain, they hit a roadblock in packaging: the orders needed to be perfectly packed and precartonized for the highest level of performance. Locus Robotics brought in MagicLogic to bridge the gap.

Magic in the Middle

MagicLogic s containerization software became the critical connector between Concordance s ERP system and the Locus robots. MagicLogic received each wave of orders, applied custom rules for weight and dimensions, and broke them into optimized cartons ready for robotic execution.

“Cartonization is quite important in many facets of the warehouse, explained Michael Phu, director of deployment at Locus Robotics. “It saves time and rework during picking, but also post-picking as well. Magic Logic breaks down orders into the optimal container counts and types, so our robots can execute efficiently.

The result: totes that were no longer overfilled, underused, or too heavy and robots that could run more efficiently without human guesswork.

“MagicLogic is handling not only the dimensions of what fits in the tote, but also the weight,” said Keith Price, CIO/COO at Concordance Healthcare. “We have different weight limits for different customers,” he continued, “[and] we’re able to set those weight limits by location.”

Flexibility was a major win. Whether it was routing crutches, handling multiple barcodes, or managing different container types (cardboard vs. reusable totes), MagicLogic adapted seamlessly. They even prepared for future scenarios, like accommodating oversized surgical kits with a different class of robot.

The integration took just two to three months at their Tiffin warehouse. After that, they rolled out to nine more locations in under four months, launching a new site every two to three weeks thanks to close collaboration between Concordance, Locus Robotics, and MagicLogic.

Locus played a critical role in streamlining warehouse operations, enabling faster, more ergonomic picking through AMRs that integrated seamlessly with MagicLogic’s optimized cartons. Their engineering and support teams worked closely with both Concordance and MagicLogic to ensure a smooth, scalable rollout.

Packed Better, Picked Faster

The combination of intelligent packing and autonomous movement unlocked new levels of efficiency and accuracy across their operations. With MagicLogic and Locus working hand-in-hand, Concordance saw immediate performance improvements:

• Lines per hour increased by 30%, with some warehouses hitting 80 lines/hour.
• Accuracy improved to 99.95%, minimizing the margin for error in a zerotolerance healthcare environment.
• Shipment volume reduced and risk of overweight containers lowered thanks to improved use of totes.
• Fulfillment became more consistent and scalable, even with shifting demands and product types.
• Training became faster, with new hires up to speed and picking at full pace in under an hour.

“[Where we were] doing about 45 lines an hour before, now we’re doing 52 as a standard,” said Price.

The speed and accuracy improvements were tangible, but more importantly, the new system is much smarter. With MagicLogic handling containerization and Locus handling execution, Concordance is able to rethink how products flow through their warehouses, from complex hospital orders to lightweight items with special packaging requirements.

According to Jordan Page, senior customer success manager at Locus Robotics, this is a blueprint for modern fulfillment: “MagicLogic’s cartonization logic would be a great fit for any robotics automation warehouse.”

And for Concordance, the partnership was essential, according to Price. “Without MagicLogic in the middle . . . we would’ve been at a standstill.”