S&S Activewear

Acie McMillan is Regional Director of Operations at S&S Activewear, a Michigan State supply chain graduate with a decade-plus of experience leading warehousing, logistics, and large teams across Walmart, Gemalto, Luxottica, and American Woodmark. He is also the founder of The Elite Standard, a company focused on leadership development and coaching, based in the Atlanta area.

In an exclusive interview with Retail Tech Insights, he shares his experience and opinions on how the retail tech industry is evolving.

A Career Shaped by Top-ranked Training

My career began at Amazon, where my responsibilities included receiving products into the facility center and then storing them in various locations for pickers to retrieve. That is also where I learned about Kaizen and the concept of continuous improvement. This training led me to American Woodmark, a company that I majorly credit for my success. There I learnt how to make the most of adversity. I was responsible for the team that kitted or pulled all the parts that went into making the cabinets, whether it was the shelves, drawers, or doors.

Then, I was with Luxottica. This job really excited me because I could see the brands I worked with everywhere. During my tenure, I led multiple teams, starting on the wholesale side before transitioning into apparel.

My next shift was to Gemalto. This was my introduction to management, overseeing the production of plastics, including debit and credit cards, in a demanding 24-hour, six-day-a-week operation, leading ten supervisors across three shifts. I then moved to Walmart as a senior operations manager, overseeing the perishable side of a grocery distribution center, a particularly challenging role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That brought me to what I currently do now as the Regional Director of Operations for S&S Activewear, the largest wholesale distributor of Activewear in North America. I used to run one of our Atlanta sites. Now I support the company and operations on a national level. We are the exclusive distributors of Under Armour, Adidas, and Vineyard Vine, among others.

“Whether it is AI or robots, for the retail tech industry to thrive, every leader, aspirant, and organization must undergo continuous training and stay abreast of the evolving trends.”

A day in our life is just like anybody who’s managing a warehouse. No two days are the same. Nothing is typical or the same except the processes that we do.

I have served the company as warehouse operations manager for the last four years, and it has been two months since I was vested with the responsibility of regional director of operations.

Growing Demand and Technology

Customer demand has continued to grow over the years, and it shows no signs of stopping. This is the primary challenge in the retail tech industry. A business should always look to meet its customers when, where, and how they want, without breaking the business. They should find ways to scale their business by staying innovative and ensuring that customers have access to high-quality products. And for this, the people must be protected. Employee satisfaction must be prioritized, and the latest technological developments must be emphasized.

One technology that is defining business now is AI. When it first came, I was not very excited, but as I realized that it would become the foundation of modern business, I quickly came to terms with it. Honing new technologies and utilizing them to streamline business operations is no longer optional, and doing so is a win for everyone.

Initiatives that Testify For Success

Very recently at S&S Activewear, we partnered with Geek Plus and Körber to implement PopPick in some of our facilities. PopPick is a rack-to-person, goods-to-person solution where mobile robots ferry entire storage racks to workstations, eliminating picker travel and queuing in aisles for higher throughput and accuracy.

At each PopPick station, dual robotic arms extract the exact tote from the rack and present it at two pick points so that an operator can pull the correct quantity of the right SKU with minimal motion and verification on an integrated screen interface.

We have implemented this system at approximately five of our sites, and have observed increased productivity and safety. With PopPick, we have ensured less moving equipment and fewer personnel in the warehouse. As a result, there is less confusion, and a streamlined workflow is maintained.

Valuable Advice for the Industry

People are getting smarter every day; the name of the game now is to work smarter, not harder. They also stand out as the biggest asset for any organization. Adapting to technology, protecting employees, and investing in aligning people with technology are becoming increasingly important.

Whether it is AI or robots, for the retail tech industry to thrive, every leader, aspirant, and organization must undergo continuous training and stay abreast of the evolving trends. And this precisely is my advice.