Hit Promotional Products Integrates Robotic Workcells for Packaging Automation

Hit Promotional Products Inc. claims to be the largest promotional product manufacturer in the U.S., nationally recognized for its value and customer service. To maintain its positive reputation and continue offering a wide range of products, the Largo, Fla.-based company decided to embark on a multi-year initiative to reimagine its business processes from end to end.

Hit continually introduces more than 500 new items per year and has been a member of the promotional products industry for more than 50 years.

In particular, the company wanted to implement “lights-out” automation to package its products. Facing both rapid growth and marketplace disruption, Hit identified goals to increase its productivity and reduce its operational costs. Upon identifying these objectives, the manufacturer selected RIOS Intelligent Machines as a strategic partner.

RaaS enables affordable, faster fulfillment

Hit’s team members, along with its technology partners, worked with the robotics hardware and software developer to co-create custom workcells that use robots to decrease order-fulfillment time.

The manufacturer took advantage of a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model to support its operational goals. Instead of traditional capital equipment expenses, or capex, RaaS provides a monthly service platform as an alternative financing option. It provides operational value without the monetary burden of a large equipment expense at the initial phase of integration.

Hit was able to deploy the personalized robots within 60 days, and it continues to package tens of thousands of items daily at peak operation. During the first two months of operation, more than 200,000 products were packaged using the new robotic workcells. To date, over 1 million items have been packaged.

By investing in automation, Hit has remained competitively positioned and said it is growing exponentially. And, as a result, the company has continued to achieve its key goals: offering nationally recognized customer service, competitive pricing, and an array of products.