FloStorAccelerating Aerospace: FloStor Automates Logistics for Lockheed Martin
FloStor navigated Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Division beyond outdated infrastructure and manual processes to achieve a streamlined, automated warehouse. The integrated system delivered improved throughput, pinpoint inventory accuracy, and tighter control, setting a new standard for material handling in aerospace and building a foundation for future growth.
How Lockheed Martin Built a High-Control Automated Materials Operation for Space Systems
The Client: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Division
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Division operates in an environment where material precision, traceability, and execution speed directly affect program performance. Managing high-value aerospace components requires tightly controlled inventory workflows from receiving to kitting and deployment.
To modernize internal logistics, Lockheed partnered with FloStor to redesign storage, movement, and control architecture into one integrated automation platform.
The Challenge
- Fragmented Facility Layout: Materials were distributed across four buildings, slowing retrieval and kitting coordination.
- Legacy Storage Constraints: Two-level rack infrastructure limited density and increased manual travel time.
- Manual Throughput Limits: High receipt and disbursement volume stressed manual and semi-manual processes.
- Accuracy and Lot Control Risk: Maintaining exact inventory location and lot traceability became increasingly difficult.
- Priority Handling Complexity: Critical aerospace parts required dynamic, rules-based movement control not supported by legacy flow.
The Solution
FloStor designed and implemented a consolidated, automation-centered materials system that combined high-density storage, robotic handling, conveyor transport, and real-time controls integrated with Lockheed’s ARMS information environment.
The objective was to create an intelligent operating layer that could route, prioritize, and track all inventory transactions with higher speed and tighter control.
Systems Used
- ARMS-Integrated Control Architecture: Real-time synchronization between enterprise inventory logic and physical material movement.
- Automated Horizontal Carousel Array: Sixteen carousels increased storage density and reduced operator travel time.
- Extractor/Inserter Automation Units: Robotic tote handling improved repeatability, speed, and handling precision.
- Line Shaft Conveyor Network: Zoned conveyor transport enabled controlled accumulation and directed tote flow.
- Priority-Based Real-Time Routing Controls: Dynamic dispatch logic sequenced urgent tasks and optimized in-system movement.
The Power of Integration in Action
FloStor’s integration approach connected software intelligence and physical automation into one coordinated materials engine. Inventory status, location, and movement priorities were continuously synchronized, reducing latency between planning decisions and warehouse execution.
The system could also dynamically optimize carousel positioning during idle windows, improving retrieval speed for frequently requested items and reinforcing daily throughput performance.
The Results
Lockheed transformed a fragmented, labor-constrained operation into a centralized high-control workflow with stronger throughput, tighter inventory accuracy, and improved lot traceability. Materials now move through receiving, storage, picking, and kitting with greater predictability and less manual friction.
Modular controls and infrastructure also created a practical expansion path, including support for future carousel-level capacity growth without full system replacement.
Key Performance Gains
- Throughput Improvement: Material flow speed increased across receiving, storage, picking, and kitting operations
- Inventory Accuracy Gains: Real-time tracking and control logic improved location precision and transaction reliability
- Lot Date Control Strengthening: Traceability and compliance handling improved for sensitive aerospace components
- Future-Ready Scalability: Modular architecture enabled staged capacity expansion, including additional carousel levels
Why This Worked
This deployment succeeded because Lockheed and FloStor treated modernization as a systems-integration challenge, not an equipment upgrade project. Data, controls, storage, and movement were designed as one operating framework tied to mission-critical requirements.
- End-to-End Control Model: Enterprise logic and warehouse execution remained synchronized in real time.
- Automation Matched to Risk Profile: System design prioritized precision and traceability for high-value aerospace inventory.
- Operational Priority Intelligence: Dynamic routing supported urgent material movement without destabilizing base flow.
- Scalable-by-Design Infrastructure: Modular hardware and controls supported future demand growth with minimal disruption.
Related Services
- Material Handling System Integration
- High-Density Automated Storage and Retrieval
- Warehouse Controls and Enterprise System Integration
- Mission-Critical Operations Scalability Planning