ULINE's Smart Lighting Solution: Enhancing Efficiency and Impacting Bottom Line
Technology Category
- Networks & Connectivity - WiFi
- Sensors - Optical Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Buildings
- Packaging
Applicable Functions
- Facility Management
- Procurement
Use Cases
- Building Automation & Control
- Smart Lighting
Services
- System Integration
The Customer
Uline
About The Customer
Uline is a family-owned business that has been the leading distributor of shipping and packaging solutions to businesses throughout North America for over 40 years. The company has built its brand on customer service, order accuracy, quick delivery, and low prices. With a robust, 800-page catalog and over 38,000 products, Uline operates an 800,000 square foot facility in Lacey, Washington. The facility houses thousands of individual luminaires and operates at peak efficiency, distributing several tons of product to customers on a daily basis.
The Challenge
Uline, a leading distributor of shipping and packaging solutions in North America, was facing a challenge with its lighting system. The company, known for its customer service, order accuracy, quick delivery, and low prices, needed its facilities to operate at peak efficiency. This included the 3,014 lights in its 800,000 square foot facility in Lacey, Washington. The company's Director of Engineering, Mike McConnell, was tasked with finding efficiency in every corner of the facility, including optimizing light to improve both operational and financial performance. The company had identified a luminaire that fit their needs, but struggled to find a reliable lighting controls provider that could deliver a solution at this scale to meet stringent energy codes and zoning requirements. The lights in the entire facility had to operate as a single system with one interface, adjust to natural lights from the skylights for daylight harvesting, and work with Uline’s existing IT systems. Other providers offered a mix of wired and wireless systems that were complex, hard to install and maintain, and couldn't scale to meet the size of the facility.
The Solution
Synapse provided a smart lighting solution that met Uline’s logistical needs and impacted their bottom line. The solution involved the installation of 3,014 high-bay luminaires at the Uline facility, integrated with Synapse’s SimplySnap wireless controls. SimplySnap is a scalable wireless platform that can manage multiple locations and single sites up to 10,000 lights. It allowed Uline to set up, control, monitor, and manage every light from a single user interface that integrates with Uline’s existing building management system (BMS). The high-bay lights respond instantly without delay and are optimized through SimplySnap’s precision controls and scheduling to respond to the natural lights from the warehouse’s skylights and enable daylight harvesting. The SimplySnap lighting solution comprises software and hardware components that are adaptable to multiple applications, providing reliable connectivity and control. The intuitive control and interface allowed for the creation of custom settings and schedules, maximizing Uline’s savings while giving them complete control of each light, bank, and zone.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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