When growth outpaces your processes, something has to change.

For Dental City, a leading dental distributor offering more than 60,000 unique products (with access to thousands more), rapid growth created mounting pressure inside its 40,000-square-foot warehouse. Orders were increasing. Inventory was expanding. And employees were walking miles each day pulling carts weighing 400–500 pounds just to keep up.

Rather than simply adding more people and more carts, Dental City chose a smarter path. By partnering with Bradford Systems, they reimagined their warehouse from the ground up, integrating advanced automation, robotics, and intelligent storage systems without ever shutting down operations.

This is the story of how a collaborative industrial automation strategy became a true “Super Bowl win” for Dental City.

The Challenge: Growth Without Scalability

Before automation, Dental City’s warehouse faced several operational hurdles:

• Increasing order volume year after year
• Limited space (40,000 sq. ft.)
• Manual cart-based picking processes
• Heavy physical strain on employees
• Orders piling up when staffing fell short

The picking process alone could take up to 20 minutes per order and large, 100+ line orders sometimes required an hour and a half to complete.

Leadership realized they couldn’t scale by simply adding more bodies to the floor. They needed a system that would:

• Increase throughput
• Maximize space
• Reduce walking and physical strain
• Improve fulfillment speed
• Support long-term growth

That is when the distribution center decided to partner with Bradford Systems on a tailored solution.

The Strategy: A Phased, Big-Picture Approach

Bradford Systems’ industrial project leader, Steve Arrigo, didn’t just recommend a single piece of equipment. He evaluated the entire facility and asked a bigger question:

“How can we design a fully integrated system that meets today’s demand and tomorrow’s growth?”

Because Dental City was operating a live distribution center, the transformation had to happen in phases without shutting down operations.

The complete system integration led by Steve’s expertise included:

• Modula Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs) by Modula
• Horizontal Carousels with Pick-to-Light and Put-to-Light systems
• Conveyors and pallet flow systems
• Carton flow and optimized racking
• A new consolidation zone
• Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) by Locus Robotics 

The key wasn’t just adding automation, it was integrating every piece of technology into a seamless, synchronized workflow.

The Turning Point: Robotics and Intelligent Picking

One of the biggest game changers was the implementation of Locus Robotics AMRs.

Initially, there was understandable nervousness about introducing robots to the floor. But on day one, the impact was immediate.

The robots functioned as both:

• A conveyance system
• A picking assistant

Combined with horizontal carousels using pick-to-light and put-to-light technology, the team could now:

• Batch up to 24 orders at a time
• Reduce picking time from 20 minutes to 5 minutes
• Complete 100–120 line orders in 10–15 minutes

Previously, one large order might take 90 minutes. Now, multiple team members can pick simultaneously, dramatically accelerating throughput.

Meanwhile, the three-tower VLM (Vertical Lift Module) system by Modula consistently produces 800–900 picks per day, storing slower-moving inventory while maximizing vertical space.

The Results: Speed, Space, and Scalability

The improvements were measurable and transformative.

Fulfillment Speed

• Order picking time reduced by up to 75%
• Large orders completed in a fraction of previous time
• Significantly fewer late evenings past 5 PM

Space Utilization

• Vertical storage through VLMs maximized cubic space
• Reduced congestion on the warehouse floor
• Improved product organization and flow

Employee Experience

• Eliminated excessive walking and heavy cart hauling
• Faster onboarding—new employees can be trained on automation in about 30 minutes
• Improved morale and job satisfaction

Future Growth

Dental City now confidently believes they can double their business within the same facility.

That’s real scalability.

A True Partnership Approach

What made this project especially successful wasn’t just the technology, it was the collaboration.

Bradford Systems’ industrial planning team worked side-by-side with Dental City’s leadership, warehouse team, and IT department. Every phase was carefully designed, implemented, and refined without disrupting daily business operations.

Rather than directing from the sidelines, Bradford Systems partnered with Dental City to ensure each component worked independently yet seamlessly integrated into one intelligent ecosystem.

This wasn’t just about installing equipment.

It was about:

• Understanding operational goals
• Designing for minimal disruption
• Ensuring long-term performance
• Delivering measurable ROI

The result? A complex automation rollout executed flawlessly and a facility that now runs like a well-oiled machine.

What This Means for Industrial Facilities

The future of efficient, automated material handling is here. Dental City’s transformation demonstrates that warehouse automation doesn’t have to mean chaos, downtime, or risky overhauls. With a clearly defined strategy, thoughtful systems integration, and a carefully phased implementation plan, even a fully operational distribution center can modernize without missing a beat. The key is taking a big-picture approach, aligning technology with operational goals, employee workflows, and long-term growth plans rather than simply adding standalone equipment.

By evaluating the entire facility and implementing solutions in stages, Dental City was able to continue serving customers every single day while fundamentally upgrading how orders were picked, stored, and fulfilled. The result was not just improved efficiency, but a smarter, more scalable operation built to support future expansion.

If your facility is:

• Running out of space and struggling to store growing inventory
• Missing fulfillment targets or racing to keep up with demand
• Adding more labor just to maintain current output
• Experiencing employee fatigue from excessive walking, lifting, and manual processes

It may be time to rethink your approach.

Growth shouldn’t create bottlenecks. And efficiency shouldn’t come at the expense of your team. With the right automation strategy in place, there’s a better, more sustainable way forward.

Start Your Smart Warehouse Transformation

At Bradford Systems, automation is never just about installing new equipment. It’s about engineering a smarter, more efficient operation from the ground up. Every solution is designed with your facility’s long-term goals in mind, improving throughput, maximizing space, empowering employees, and positioning your industrial space for scalable growth.

Whether you’re optimizing a single department or reimagining an entire distribution center, the right combination of strategy, technology, and integration can unlock performance gains your business may not have thought possible. As Dental City’s success shows, meaningful transformation happens when the best systems and right partners work together seamlessly.

If you’re ready to reduce bottlenecks, increase fulfillment speed, and future-proof your operation, now is the time to take the next step!

Learn more about industrial automation solutions and contact our team to start your transformation. You can watch the entire video explaining the warehouse transformation of Dental City.