L Brands needed an automated distribution center similar to URBN's model but at a smaller ($100M) scale. They required reliable orchestration between automation equipment, PLCs, and enterprise systems, plus visibility into robotic subsystems.

We re-applied the distributed warehouse execution pattern with adjustments for the smaller footprint and added support for robotic cells that relied on Redis-backed coordination. The team delivered orchestrated flows that connected PLCs, robots, and upstream WMS/TMS, ensuring predictable routing and inventory updates.

Core Stack

• Windows services written in C#/.NET Framework with Oracle as the system of record.
• REST endpoints from the orchestrator down to services; SOAP from orchestrator to WMS.

Robotics and Caching

• Redis used to coordinate a pair of robots requiring fast, shared state.
• Dockerized components where appropriate for consistency across environments.

Operations

• Health checks and logs to keep a smaller ops team informed of equipment or integration issues.

• Orchestrated flows between PLCs, robots, and enterprise systems.
• Redis-backed coordination for robotic tasks.
• SOAP/REST bridges to WMS and internal services.
• Fault isolation between warehouse zones despite the smaller footprint.
• Custom SCADA dashboards for warehouse maintenance techs and on-site controls engineers.

The distribution center met throughput and accuracy targets while leveraging automation without overbuilding infrastructure. Robotic cells integrated cleanly into the broader orchestration, and the ops team retained clear visibility into exceptions and recoveries.