Stories Souko — Scaling fast. Staying sharp.

Souko — Scaling fast. Staying sharp.

Souko Fulfillment

Salt Lake City, Utah, US

3PL, Ecommerce

Stories Souko — Scaling fast. Staying sharp.

Souko Fulfillment started small—literally from a garage. Over the years, the company has grown steadily, evolving from humble beginnings into a 40,000-square-foot warehouse operation. The story of Souko is one of grit, adaptability, and a relentless pursuit of efficiency.

Efficiency, delivered.

3x more orders fulfilled

50% reduction in manual labor

Industry-leading accuracy

Scalable during peak seasons

The Challenge

Souko Fulfillment, founded five years ago, specializes in third-party logistics (3PL) and ecommerce order fulfillment.

The company serves a variety of clients, including their own house brands and external customers. But as they grew, they came up against space constraints, needing to relocate to expand their business.

As founder Connor MacArthur puts it: "We grew at a pace that required us to get more space. It's almost like a like a crab finding a new shell. So we've had to move about every year."

Plus, there's the labor issue. At peak seasons, the Souko team swells from 15 to 25 employees, handling thousands of orders a week. However, inefficiencies in picking and inventory management were becoming roadblocks to growth.

Souko sought out automation to take their business to the next level. That’s when they turned to Pio.

The Solution

Souko explored various automation solutions but found that most were designed for massive enterprises—complex and expensive to implement. Pio stood out because of its scalability, ease of integration, and minimal disruption to existing workflows.

Results and Impact

After integrating Pio, Souko saw immediate and tangible results:

Reduction in Picking Labor: Souko can now fulfill the same volume of orders with half the workforce dedicated to picking.
3x Picking Speed: Pick rates jumped from 60-80 lines per hour to 240-285 lines per hour per picker.
Increased Accuracy: With automated inventory management, picking errors dropped significantly, contributing to a near-perfect accuracy rate.
Optimized Space: Souko freed up significant warehouse space by consolidating inventory within the Pio grid, allowing them to lease excess space or expand services.
Faster Growth: Onboarding clients takes days, not weeks.

Unexpected Benefits

While efficiency and accuracy were expected, Pio delivered unexpected advantages:

Reduced Employee Fatigue: With less walking and manual labor, employees experience less burnout and greater job satisfaction.
Gamified Productivity: Pio’s dashboard tracks picking speed, fostering friendly competition among staff. “One of our pickers is at the top globally, doing 285 lines an hour,” says Operations Manager Wyatt Bodhaine, with a smile.
Smooth Peak Management: By preloading inventory into the grid ahead of Black Friday, Souko minimized restocking during peak weeks, focusing resources on packing and shipping.

Looking Ahead

With Pio in place, Souko has unlocked new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and scalability—positioning the company to thrive in the competitive world of ecommerce fulfillment.

And perhaps most importantly, they no longer need to hunt down a bigger warehouse space every time they take on a new client. No more hermit crab hunting for a larger shell. They're free to expand right where they are.

The partnership between Souko and Pio exemplifies how automation can revolutionize warehouse operations simply and quickly. For Souko, Pio isn’t just a tool; it’s a catalyst for growth.

"We're now in a position where we can actually grow. We can deliver. We can scale up in the way that we want."

Connor MacArthur

Founder of Souko

The Results

After integrating Pio, Souko saw immediate and tangible results.

Faster fulfillment. Pick rates jumped from 60-80 lines per hour to 240-285 lines per hour per picker.

Increased Accuracy. With automated inventory management, picking errors dropped significantly, contributing to a 99.9% accuracy rate.

Optimized Space. Souko freed up significant warehouse space by consolidating inventory within the Pio grid, enabling the choice to lease excess space or expand.