Robust.AI Partners with Saddle Creek Logistics to Bring Collaborative AMRs to Charlotte Warehouse

Robust.AI has announced a new partnership with Saddle Creek Logistics Services to deploy its collaborative autonomous mobile robot, Carter™, inside Saddle Creek’s Charlotte, North Carolina warehouse. The move marks another sign of how AI-enabled robotics are gaining traction in real-world logistics operations.

Saddle Creek integrated Carter into its order-fulfillment workflow for a major beauty client, where the robot now automates tote movements between processing and labeling lines and more than 20 drop-off points. Rather than installing fixed conveyors or heavy infrastructure, Carter acts as a flexible, mobile “virtual conveyor”, adapting to changing operations and floor layouts.

To meet Saddle Creek’s needs, Robust.AI customized Carter with an increased payload capacity, allowing the robot to carry more items per trip and reduce the total number of manual tote runs required.

Since deployment, Saddle Creek reports several operational improvements: reduced walking time for workers, increased tote volume per trip, smoother traffic flow, and better workload balance between humans and robots. Operators can still direct the robots when necessary, maintaining human oversight while offloading repetitive physical work.

“At Robust.AI, we build automation that works for people and not around them,” said CEO Anthony Jules. “Our partnership with Saddle Creek demonstrates how collaborative robotics can seamlessly integrate into real-world warehouse operations to deliver measurable improvements, quickly.”

Carter’s software-defined capabilities allow logistics teams to shift the robot between tasks such as fulfillment picking, point-to-point transport, and mobile sorting. The design emphasizes human-robot collaboration, aiming to boost productivity without requiring job-replacing automation or complex retrofits.

Saddle Creek says this flexibility is central to its long-term automation strategy.

“Order fulfillment demands speed, accuracy, and agility at scale,” said Harshil Aghera, Senior Director of Technology and Innovation. “Robust.AI’s ability to deploy customized solutions without expensive infrastructure upgrades helps us meet clients’ evolving needs efficiently and cost-effectively.”

For workers on the warehouse floor, the benefits aren’t just operational. “Carter was easy to integrate into our workflows and makes jobs less physically and mentally stressful,” said Adam Sauter, Regional Senior Director of Operations, noting that the timing is especially valuable heading into the holiday season.

The partnership underscores the growing appeal of collaborative AMRs that can augment human labor, adapt to existing processes, and scale across environments—offering companies a bridge between traditional manual workflows and the fully automated warehouses of the future.