Why This Matters to Distributors: The move underscores a shift toward specialized, high-volume fulfillment models tailored to defined customer segments, with automation increasingly required to meet service-level expectations tied to direct-to-consumer delivery.
Medline has launched an automated fulfillment system at its distribution center in Montgomery, New York, aimed at improving the speed and accuracy of orders shipped directly to health plan members.
The system, called Pick Pack Pro, combines robotic sortation, conveyor-based movement, and automated packing to manage high-volume orders drawn from a limited range of products. Medline said the technology is designed to address the distinct ordering patterns of health plan customers, where demand spikes during defined benefit periods and moderates for the remainder of the year.
Unlike traditional distribution operations that manage broad product assortments, health plan orders typically focus on a narrower set of everyday medical supplies, including over-the-counter medications, heating pads, and compression socks. These orders are often placed within specific timeframes tied to member benefits, creating concentrated fulfillment surges.
Pick Pack Pro integrates order batching, robotic sortation and automated packing and shipping to manage those fluctuations while maintaining delivery times and order accuracy, the company said.
“We want to help the health plan providers we serve drive greater member satisfaction and better overall care outcomes,” said Brad Mariam, Medline executive vice president of non-acute care sales. “With our Pick Pack Pro system, we can support commitments our health plan customers make to their members by getting benefit items to members quickly and accurately, as well as delivering directly to their homes.”
The Montgomery deployment represents Medline’s first capital and staffing investment in the system. The company said it developed the installation with technology partners, including Tompkins Robotics for item sorting, Trew for carton movement and sortation, and Ranpak for automated packaging.
Medline said it plans to expand the system to additional facilities across its U.S. network of 45 distribution centers.
The company, based in Northfield, Illinois, is a provider of medical-surgical products and supply chain services and operates in more than 100 countries.
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