Tesco Automation

Tesco embarked on a project to enhance distribution processes using digital solutions and automation technology, aiming to optimize the user experience for colleagues interacting with Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) in their distribution centers.

This initiative marked Tesco's first venture into automating fresh product distribution in the UK. The cross-functional team included experts from technology, operations, business, and distribution, working together to improve operational workflows and employee satisfaction. As a Senior UX Designer, I led this innovative project.

CHALLENGE

The fresh product grocery distribution system at Tesco suffered from poor inventory management, low pick accuracy, and colleagues faced difficulties interacting with the existing systems. These issues led to reduced productivity at a time of reduced labor availability and rising wage costs, pressuring Tesco to reduce distribution expenses through automation.

This presented a new challenge of introducing bots into the distribution center and creating digital products to help Tesco colleagues interact and communicate effectively with the bots and the automation engine.

Prior to this project, Tesco handled nearly 600 million cases of fresh products annually, incurring labor costs of approximately £100 million.

Our primary goal was to improve site efficiency by 35%, with specific KPIs:

Increase decant rate at put stations to 518 cases per hour
Increase assembly rate at pick stations to 325 cases per hour
Improve perfect cage accuracy from 98.5% to 99.5%
Increase perfect cage cube utilization from 19% to 26%

PROCESS

Research and Immersion

I adopted an immersive approach, involving:

Ethnographic research through weekly site visits to Tesco Distribution centres over 18 months
Hands-on training in standard operational processes
Weekly interviews with colleagues to gather feedback on pain points , improvement opportunities, and solution design workshops

Persona Development

We developed personas and jobs-to-be-done documents, encapsulating roles, frustrations, and pain points of colleagues, guiding our design initiatives.

Service Blueprinting

We employed service blueprinting techniques with stakeholders from technology, operations, and distribution to map out existing and proposed processes, identifying gaps and inefficiencies.

User Testing

Live site user testing sessions were conducted to validate design hypotheses and iterate on solutions, ensuring alignment with user needs and operational realities.

SOLUTION

Assembly Pick Improvements

Observational feedback and data analysis revealed that colleagues had difficulty picking items off the robots. We discovered that the information provided to identify pick locations required excessive cognitive effort, slowing down the pick rate. I designed and tested a solution where robot shelves were color-coded, and product locations were displayed visually with color and symbol identifiers. After successful guerilla testing, we implemented these changes, resulting in a 14% improvement in the pick rate.

Product Induction Redesign

To further enhance the site pick rate, we found that colleagues could pick from bots carrying full pallets 32% faster than from bots carrying shelves of products. The challenge was that colleagues could only induct pallets with three or fewer products arranged in orderly rows. We experimented with how colleagues could build a digital view of a pallet with up to nine products in mixed columns and rows. I designed a new induction method using scanners attached to mobile devices, improving induct time by increasing the ratio of pallets to shelves and enabling quicker pick times.

New Tesco Distribution Design System

With the transition from manual to automated distribution centers, new devices were issued to support wireless scanners and improved task tracking. To facilitate this adoption, I collaborated with various product teams to design an upgraded design system for their apps. I worked with each product owner and process engineer to map out their product’s screen flows and enhance the colleague experience by leveraging the new equipment.

Automation Performance Tracking App

I developed a greenfield app to track the performance of colleagues interacting with the AMRs. This app enabled managers and site leads to identify low performers and bottlenecks while providing colleagues with insights into how their performance tracked against their incentivization structure.

Outcomes

This project demonstrated the power of a cross-functional team empowered to make data-driven decisions and maintain short feedback loops. It reinforced the importance of considering digital products alongside the physical environments in which they are used. The collaboration between technology, operations, business, and users was crucial in creating effective solutions. This experience solidified my belief in the necessity of integrating user-centric design principles with operational realities to drive impactful improvements.