Kenco opens 30,000‑square‑foot warehouse automation lab in Chattanooga
Kenco opened a 30,000‑square‑foot Innovation Lab on Sept. 10, tripling the testing footprint it first established in 2015. The expanded facility lets the 3PL test larger automation systems side‑by‑side in a setting that mimics real‑world warehouse conditions.
The lab’s vendor‑neutral design gives OEMs a working building to run equipment while customers can evaluate the same gear without issuing a purchase order. Kenco collects performance data from both manufacturers and users to inform its own warehouse operations and to advise clients. The lab’s layout replicates typical dock‑to‑stock flow, allowing Kenco to measure impacts on walking distance, repetitive tasks and physical strain. Automation is not about replacing people but about enabling them, reducing excessive walking and creating safer, more sustainable work environments. The facility also supports an ongoing automation project with Thomas Goldsby, the Dee and Jimmy Haslam Chair in Logistics at UT Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business.
“The Innovation Lab has long stood as the convergence point for leading technologies and real-world applications, helping both manufacturers and customers identify and realize what’s possible,” Ainsley Williams, vice president of automation and innovation at Kenco said.
“As both the industry and Kenco’s automation ambitions continue to grow, that space no longer supported our breadth of technologies that we wanted to evaluate, demonstrate, and develop,” Denis Reilly, president and CEO of Kenco said.
Kenco first launched a 10,000‑square‑foot innovation center in 2015 to explore how emerging automation would affect its operations. Over the following decade, the company’s automation ambitions grew and the original facility became too small for the range of technologies it wished to test. The new lab triples that footprint to accommodate larger, more complex systems.
What we know
Kenco opened a 30,000‑square‑foot Innovation Lab on Sept. 10.
The lab triples the testing footprint compared to the original facility built in 2015.
The original innovation center was 10,000 square feet and launched in 2015.
Kenco operated 140 locations across North America as of August 2025.
Kenco employed more than 7,500 people as of August 2025.