By Tony Altman
For nearly five decades, Motivational Fulfillment has grown by following one guiding principle to say “yes” to the customer and then deliver on that yes. That idea, passed down from my father, continues to shape how we evolve today.
Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Mary Hart on the Locus Robotics’ podcast, Warehouse Automation Matters, to talk about how we bring that principle to life in an era of automation, data, and rapid change. The conversation gave me a chance to reflect on the balance we’re always working to strike in innovating with technology while keeping our people and customers at the center.
Continuous improvement has always been part of our culture, but in 2023, we decided to take a more formal step. We brought Carlos Chavez onto our executive team as Vice President of Continuous Improvement, to make it someone’s full-time mission to look at how we can do better for our customers and our employees.
We’re all about efficiency, safety, quality, and on-time delivery. These are the factors that earn and keep customer trust, and they’re what motivate our teams every day.
In the podcast, I shared how adding Locus Robotics to our Mississippi facility immediately helped us improve throughput, accuracy, and training times. But what struck me most was the impact on employees.
“We see automation as a way to improve the employee experience, but not replacing our employees,” I noted during the conversation.
By reducing walking, strain, and fatigue, automation has made work safer and opened new career opportunities for our team. In fact, we’ve seen higher morale, lower injury rates, and better retention in facilities where we’ve introduced robotics.
Our decision to build a proprietary WMS and order management systems was driven by the same philosophy to say yes to customers and then deliver. Having in-house systems means we can respond quickly and cost-effectively to unique customer needs, sometimes in days, compared to months or quarters elsewhere.
That flexibility has become a true competitive edge as it ensures customers never feel like they’re being asked to fit into a rigid box. Instead, we adapt our systems to them.
Another point I discussed on the podcast is how we approach change management. Rolling out new technology can’t be done in isolation. We involve customers, managers, and frontline employees in every decision and by explaining why a change matters, not just how it works, we create buy-in and excitement.
That people-first communication is critical as without it, even the best technology can fail. With it, automation becomes something employees champion instead of resist.
Our mission hasn’t changed to provide the highest level of service to customers. What has evolved is the toolkit we use to achieve that. Warehouse automation is now part of that toolkit to help us scale, stay efficient, and continue saying yes to customers without compromise.
But one truth remains: that technology only works when paired with people who believe in the mission. Our team is what makes Motivational Fulfillment special, and automation is there to support, not replace, them.
For those interested in the full story, I encourage you to listen to my conversation on Warehouse Automation Matters. We cover not just the technology, but the philosophy behind it in the way automation, flexibility, and culture come together to deliver results.
Listen to the full episode here.