Verve Motion Episode
Summary
Ignacio Galliano is the CEO and Co-founder of Verve Motion, a company that creates exosuits for warehouse and distribution employees. These exosuits are battery-powered and provide additional support to the body, reducing strain and injuries caused by lifting heavy loads. Galliano's background is technical and he has a PhD in human-machine interaction. He met Conor Walsh, who was inventing the concept of a soft exosuit at Harvard University, and was inspired to join him in developing a There's a new wearable technology called VERB to help workers in warehouses move safely and efficiently. With sensors in the clothing, the system can detect movements and provide feedback to workers to prevent injury. It also looks stylish and can be easily adjusted for different body types. Data from the system is also collected and analyzed to identify potential risk areas and develop safety programs. This proactive approach can help prevent injuries before they happen. Exoskeleton is a company that produces a wearable suit designed to reduce the risk of on-the-job injuries and improve productivity for warehouse workers. The suit is made up of sensors that detect movement and provide feedback to workers, allowing them to adjust their posture and movements to prevent injury. It also collects data that can be used to identify potential safety hazards and improve work processes. The suit is designed to be easy to use and integrates seamlessly into workers' daily routines. It is stored in lockers In this episode, Kevin L. Bohn interviews Ignacio Guglielmetti, the CEO of Verve Motion. Verve Motion is a company that provides wearable technology to help employees in warehouses and distribution centers work more efficiently and safely. Ignacio shares how the technology works, the potential benefits for employees and employers, and what to expect when working with Verve Motion. He also discusses the current landscape of the warehouse and distribution industry and what the future looks like for Verve Motion. In this episode of The Digital Supply Chain podcast, we have speaker Ignacio Borrego from FORTE talking about the benefits of implementing a warehouse control system in a warehouse. He discusses the common challenges warehouses face, such as labor constraints and inefficient processes, and how a warehouse control system can help improve operations and increase efficiency. He also talks about the role of automation and how it can support the implementation of a warehouse control system. Listeners are invited to join the Digital Supply Chain Group for networking
Transcription
Ben Hopkins
[00.00.07]
Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to another episode at the Warehouse Underground podcast, Real Talk or Warehouse DC and FC professionals of all levels around the globe. I'm Ben, the host of the show, and joining me on the show today is Ignacio Galliano. Now he is the CEO and co-founder of Verve Motion powering the Human Workplace. Now these guys are in the exosuit space, which I am personally, selfishly a fan of. As someone who actually had back surgery when I was in my young 20s, I'm very sensitive to wear and tear and strain on my body and specifically my back. And so I've had a chance to wear one of these suits before and use them, and I, I love them. I'm a big fan. So when Vir motion contacted me to appear on the podcast, I couldn't say yes fast enough because I am selfishly a big fan. So I'm really excited to chat with Ignacio. Today's very interesting, very unique background, and they're doing some amazing stuff for warehouse and distribution employees everywhere, which obviously is very near and dear to my heart. So with that, I will bring him onto the stage right now. Ignacio, sir, thank you very much for joining the Warehouse Underground podcast. How are you today? Man? Thank you
Ignacio Galiana
[00.01.23]
so much man. Doing great, and thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
Ben Hopkins
[00.01.28]
Yeah, you got it. So like like I said in the intro, I'm personally a fan of your product. Now, I don't say that to every guest on the show. I want you to know that I love what they do, but I especially love what what you do and the product that you have. And we will talk about that more in the show. I have some cool photos to show and everything like that. We'll learn more. But before we do that though, can you just tell the audience a little bit about you, your background, interesting and how Verve Motion kind of came to be? What's the history?
Ignacio Galiana
[00.01.59]
Yeah, absolutely. Um, so, um, my background is technical. I did a PhD, uh, back in Spain, um, in focused on human machine interaction. So how robotics and humans should work together to perhaps interact with a virtual environment, a real environment, etc.. Through that PHC, I started a I started a collaboration with Harvard University. So I came to Harvard for a few months. Uh, there I met these faculty member, Conor Walsh, who was, uh, starting his lab. Um, really, um, you know, inventing the concept of what a soft exosuit could be. And, uh, I was so excited by what he was trying to build, uh, what his lab was being set up for, uh, to do. Uh, I didn't even go to my graduation. I just, uh, skipped it. Uh, got on a plane and, uh, I'm joined. Um, so initially, um, you know, was focused on, um, developing wearables for the military. You know, uh, soldiers work very long distances. Sometimes they carry 100 rucksacks, uh, through that distance. So how to improve performance, how to improve, um, you know, how they feel at the end of that and, um, did some work on medical and, uh, started to focus on. Really, what is the application where we can really help millions of people right away that are doing the toughest jobs on earth. And we picked up industrial warehousing. You know, the environment's right. They're tough. People are working really hard over very long hours. They get injured all the time. I didn't know you had that personal experience. I wish we had been there 20 years ago. We're here now. And we started to. I started to talk to, uh, leaders, uh, in those industries, uh, to the workers themselves on how their experience was like, what their challenges were. And so we basically did a prototype, put it on a few workers, let them try it, and it's like, oh, wow, this can really make a big impact. That prototype was very early. So like, wow, if we take this feedback what we're learning and develop a product that looks like this, we can really change lives for millions of people. And that's what drove me. Right. And to to build a team to start promotion back in 2020. March 2020. Right. You can never take the right time. March 2020 we launched out of Harvard University and we started the company.
Ben Hopkins
[00.04.19]
Yeah. Yeah. You know, uh, your graduation is just a ceremony, so no need to go, but I. I don't recommend that for wedding ceremonies
Ignacio Galiana
[00.04.28]
for those listenings.
Ben Hopkins
[00.04.30]
Yeah. Please, please go to your wedding. Uh, you can miss graduation. No,
Ignacio Galiana
[00.04.34]
I think I do.
Ben Hopkins
[00.04.36]
Yeah, but, uh. But it's true. Um, you know, I think the warehouse environment. You're right. I mean, there are a lot of things that people try to do to mitigate, strain, mitigate stress and everything. And. But at the end of the day, it's still a warehouse environment. I mean, you still have to be able to lift 50 most places and there's a lot of lift in there. So for those who aren't familiar, like if you go to the shows or you visit sites like yours online, you can see exo suits. But for those who are familiar, you know what? What are they? I mean, can you just kind of explain what they are and how they reduce work or injuries? Yeah, primarily, but also really kind of include their their quality of life too.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.05.18]
Yes, absolutely. So first let's start with what they used to be. Um, when someone when you say exosuit their exoskeleton, what people will picture is a big, rigid exoskeleton, kind of like Ironman, like you watch in the movies, are focused at Harvard and at work is let's do, uh, products that are really practical, easy to use, lightweight. So an exosuit is a lightweight system that you can put on. Kind of like, feels like you're putting on a backpack, uh, a couple of components around your thighs. Um, most of everything that touches you is, is, is textile based. So we're very familiar feeling on again, hydration based or for wearing pants, etc.. Um, the system that we developed has sensors in it that measure how you move, detect how you move, and it has a motor. So, um, if you if you look at it, there is a red component on the back of the user that then splits to its leg. And it's basically acting like an external muscle that is doing some of the work for you. So the interesting part is someone's wearing it and moving around. You can you can't. You can't forget that you're wearing it. The system will just know when to assist you and will assist you when, when, when it can. Um, the system will, um, uh, monitor your movements, see how you're moving and at the right. And if you're bending down to lift something up, it will know exactly at the precise moment when it can help you. And it will actually to take some of the load, some of the burden of your muscles. Uh, so that's, that's that's really how it works. Um, and it's interesting when, uh, when you look at these environments you mentioned, then, uh, workers and these workhouses and these environments being able to lift 50, this is that often surprises people. Uh, when you look at a workhouse worker, they may left, um, 40 to 50,000 in a single day. Right. So it's that that means of you're doing, uh, a couple thousand laps of that, you know, 30 to 50 weight range, and it adds up. It puts it all on their body. So if you're able with our to remove about, you know, 30 to 40% of that load, uh, from each and every of those, uh, lips movements, uh, it's really a huge impact. And it's that, uh, repetitive nature taking the weight of out of every left or as many lives as we possibly can. And then how do you feel at the end of the day, at the end of the week? At the end of the month. Um, and prevent injury. That's that's yeah, yeah,
Ben Hopkins
[00.07.42]
I really I really like that. And one thing that you mentioned that I don't think. I was. I mean, I think I knew that other people might know is that it's it's it's battery powered, right? Like, it's battery powered. It's not just something that you wear with tension like it has batteries. So is that is that the thing that is making it more capable than something that is just not battery power? And then I kind of have to ask you the next question. Well, what about the battery life? You know, because a warehouse shift is anywhere from 8 to 12 hours and sometimes even a little bit longer. So what about that battery life? Um, can can can can make sure that it lasts throughout the, throughout the day. Yeah. We were really upset that focus first on the user experience. We were very obsessed from the beginning on making sure that the battery lasted a full shift. And so you might guess, oh, a shift is eight hours. It actually is not. Sometimes it can be up to 12, right. And so, uh, so the time the battery left the very life to be able to last, uh, 12 hours. Um, we also know that sometimes at the end of the shift, people are running around and you kind of forget things, right? Maybe you forget. You forget to charge the suit or whatever it is. So we made the battery is swappable, so if you forget to charge it before you can have extras and you can just pop them in. Really what we want to make sure is that while you're working, you're not thinking about when you're going to have to change that battery or how long that battery is going to last, it's going to last for as long as as you work that day. Um, so that's, that's that was kind of like a principle of the design when it comes to why, why, why battery power. Right. Um, so our system has, um, uh, the ability to adapt to the way people move. Not everyone moves the same way. Not every task, not every environment. Um, looks the same. Uh, so we basically develop our system with sensors in it that know how you're moving, and we use that information to decide when is the right time to assist. And how does that assistance, uh, look. And that assistance might look differently for you than for me. Uh, in this environment that in that other environment. And so we felt it was needed, uh, if we wanted to assist as many people as, as we set up the, uh, you know, as a company, uh, to have a power system. Uh, the other thing that it does is it allows us to be flexible when you don't need it. Um, so.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.10.01]
If you're doing a task for which you don't need assistance, the system will just feel like you're just wearing a lightweight backpack. And then when the system knows that it can help you, uh, that's when it would actually. Um, and so that's where the power comes into play. You, uh, you need to be able to understand the environment, understand the people wearing it, and make the adjustments. The other thing is our systems are connected so we can actually push software updates, software upgrades over-the-air. Uh, so today we come up with, with with something new or you're doing a different, uh, task tomorrow we can just over the air, uh, push a software update or select a different type of systems or kind of whatever it is. So that's, uh, all those things are possible because of that. Our, uh, which both make the systems, uh, you know, adapt the way you move, um, and allows us to keep innovating, keep making, uh, our systems better. Yeah.
Ben Hopkins
[00.10.54]
Yeah, that that's a very cool. And that's a great function, I think. I mean, if you look at forklifts, sometimes forklifts will will not recharge. People will forget to recharge them. And to swap out a battery in a forklift is not. Is not really a thing, or it's big and huge and cumbersome and that type of thing. So I think to have that level of, no, you're not dead right, we can easily swap this out and off you go. I think offers a lot of capability. And, you know, one thing that I've noticed kind of going through your website and seeing the product and even behind and I'll bring this up, is that it's really neat. And I'll bring up a photo of this picture because I like it. It's really cool to me that like, look, we can take traditional safety gear, like, let's take, uh, let's take a harness that someone wears on an order picker, okay? It's just safety gear. There's no there's no style in it. There's no apparel there. There's no design. There's no look. Good. Right? Yeah. But with what verb motion makes, though, it sounds like you use scientists to design it. And apparel designers, I mean, just looking at behind your screen. So is that something that you kind of had always envisioned? Did you grow into that? Because I, I love that part. I mean, people want to have good safety gear, but it's a great bonus if it looks good too. I mean, you look good. You feel good, you work good. That's kind of how I look at it. So what do we think about the style of it, because I think that's really cool
Ignacio Galiana
[00.12.16]
feature. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Uh, absolutely. So from the beginning, we had, uh, you know, as part of our team, embedded in our team, uh, it's a core function. Uh, it's one of the most important, um, you know, functions that we have in the company is, uh, function. We call it, uh, function apparel or stuff to design. And, uh, it's really that combination of, uh, you know, the system has to look good. Feel good? Uh, you're going to be wearing it for a long time, right? So we might as well. Yeah. For that. Uh, it also has to, um, you know, incorporate a lot of functional components and elements, right? Because we're doing things that are not, um, commonly seen in clothing, like transferring courses from here and there and, and, um, you know, adding sensing capabilities, etc.. So it's really how do you integrate those, um, technology components into a familiar form function, form factor, form function. Like, like like a JSON based type looking, uh, you know, system. Uh, and then how do you make sure that you leverage, you know, the surfaces that you have to, to create a good worker experience. And part of it is, uh, you know, um. Looking. Looking like looking cool, right when you're going to work. Um, so. And so that was part of the. Part of the image. And sometimes, uh, you know, people confuse looking cool with, like, having a lot of metal and robotics kind of around, uh, around you. For us, it was around, uh, let's see. Exactly. Let's see what, um, we hired people out of, uh, you know, New Balance, Adidas, Reebok, uh, Tula, um, etc. and so some of the common brands that people were and want to wear every day because for us that's, you know, very important as we design a product and we're launching a new product, uh, later this year. So, uh, so you'll get to see even, uh, you know, uh, even get, uh, more and more, um, exciting stuff. That's great.
Ben Hopkins
[00.14.01]
Yeah. Well, you know, one of the things in, in warehousing and any ops manager who is listening out there, anybody who is ran a facility, will know that sometimes it's hard to get buy in when it comes to safety and equipment and everything. I mean, people know that they should do it, right? They should do it. They should wear it all the things. So if you have things that are. That you don't have to always drive and double check on and for lack of a term like babysit and audit and everything, if it's something that somebody is going to like and feel good because it looks good and everything. I think it it's just like then it's not something that the managers even have to notice, right? They don't even have to ensure that they're wearing this. They want to wear this and they want to look good and everything. So I think that makes it easier for people to to get a warehouse guy who's, you know, 25 years old or a girl or whatever to want to wear it and not wear it, you know. So, yeah, I really like part of it. The other
Ignacio Galiana
[00.14.54]
thing is like signing it for different, you know, when you go into the workforce, everyone like everywhere, like everywhere in life, right? Everyone looks different. And so the system has to really adapt and easily adjust from one person to the next. And so that's where the textiles, the adaptability of them, the power to adapt. So you don't have to input it settings, it just automatically that's it for you. All those things come together into just a very practical system. That's really what we obsessed with. You shouldn't think about it. Put it on helps you go home. You feel better
Ben Hopkins
[00.15.24]
and more time with your kids, right? More time with your kids and your wife and everything like that. Or your husband, whatever. So now talk to me. Talk to me about the analytics part of it. You know, talk to me about the analytics part of the program. I mean. What people might not know. And I think that this is true is it's collecting data too. Right. Like there's metrics and data and so does it require an integration with the local I-Team at the site. And and what, you know, what does the analytics side of it look at. Because it's more than just, uh, it's more than just a suit, right.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.15.58]
Yeah, exactly. So, uh, again, going back to the, uh, simple usability, let's just get started and get to work. Um, we decided to not need to integrate, uh, you know, with our customers network. Sometimes that's kind of like an act of Congress, uh, you know, in some ways to to kind of get get started with you got it on the way. We do that with, uh, with a number of customers. Um, but, um, to get started really quickly, uh, you know, you decide you want to do it. We can start in a few weeks. Um, we we we kept it kind of separate. Um, we, um, we can, uh, we understand everything about how people are moving in this environment, right? So that's information to be able to coach. And many times you see safety teams are. Walking around, uh, doing observations, uh, really with, like, uh, pen and paper. Right. Um, that's that's a topic. But it's really hard to manage that when you have a workforce of thousands of people across, uh, tens of workplace environments with, uh, three different shifts each, different trainers, different people at each of those shifts that you really cannot observe. Uh, the, you know, some of the most important things. And it's hard to make the process repeatable. Uh, for warehouse one warehouse to the next, to one ship to the next, all that stuff. Right. So, uh, we're leveraging all these data to understand where is the risk? Where are, uh, what are the movements that are more prone to injury? How does, um, you know, um, these people differentiate, and then we use all those learnings to say, hey, there's a lot of twisting in this area, or there is a lot of bending and reaching in this, in this, uh, place. And so, uh, you can then, uh, develop programs that say, hey, tomorrow, try to do more of this or less of that, and then what? That, uh, we did a study with the customer, and we saw in 30 days there was a reduction of I think it was somewhere around 40% less. Um, you know, what we call, um, unsafe movements or movements that are that that could be better, right? Uh, if you, if you focus on a few things, sometimes it's just like, oh, yeah, I'll think about it tomorrow. Right. Uh, like, if you, if you're starting with CrossFit or going to the gym and no one's, uh, correcting you, like, hey, keep your back straight, do these things, you're going to get injured. Uh, right. Uh, when you when you're, when the weights start coming up and the repetitions start going up, it's the same in a workout environment. And a lot of the workhouse population are, uh, new hires. Uh, they're running around, uh, uh, are trying to keep up moving, moving really fast in this environment. And so if you now have all these data you can develop very, uh, you know, more prescriptive programs that are more targeted to, hey, remember when, uh, yesterday this happened like, oh, yeah. Okay. Try tomorrow to this hour thing. Yeah, I get it. So, so it's more, um, metric based database. Um, in this environment which, which is really complements the assistance side of things. Absolutely. And I think when you look at safety in warehousing, a lot of times the feedback is, is that some of it is unfortunately retroactive. There was a safety incident or someone got injured. So now we have to go do an investigation and try to improve on it. And there's a lot of initiatives out there for people to try to make safety more proactive, get ahead of it, get on the leading edge. And this seems perfect for that because not only is it providing support for the worker out there, it's also letting the managers know, hey, you can get ahead because this employee or this area or this type of lifting is unsafe. Right. Eventually this may lead to some type of injury. And that type of data is is
Ben Hopkins
[00.19.34]
just old. Yeah. Now they're ahead of it now. So it's like a it's a twofer. You know it's a twofer deal.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.19.40]
Yeah. We've had. Yeah absolutely. And we've had a customer also like sometimes you just see like crazy things in the data where, you know, from one week to the next there we call it safe tips for, uh, really dropped like significantly unlike what happened. So our customer success person call their teams like, hey, something I don't know if, uh, you know, we're collecting data correctly or not, but we saw this drop, like, what's going on? It's like, oh, we just need a change in the warehouse last week. And so I'm like. And so they went back and and did it. Um, normally they will have had to wait, uh, you know, a couple of months like, oh, why are injuries going up? And then let's look at it. Right. And so, um, it lets people to go out and be ahead of those things, like you said, and not have to wait for those things to happen.
Ben Hopkins
[00.20.21]
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, so I get a little bit ahead of myself because I had this question for later in the show, but I'll bring it up now. One thing also, not just the safety part of it, but when you're talking about pure productivity, right. Like productivity gains that come from a thing like this, one thing that sometimes gets lost, I think, with a lot of sites is, you know, they look at a spreadsheet, okay, here's my spreadsheet. I have this many employees. This is the pick rate that they should be picking at. So I should get this amount of picks at 40 hours. Why didn't I get that? Well, because there's a dip at the at hour 33 or hour 38. Why is there physically tired. And that's a and that's a factor that I think a lot of ops leaders don't always factor into their analysis. Is that how do you account for the drop off that comes from just I'm tired. So if you have something like this that's taken the weight off and given them that energy back, you know, you're probably not going to see it as much of a productivity drop, are you? I mean, are you guys singing out that that out there too? Yeah,
Ignacio Galiana
[00.21.23]
absolutely. And that's, that's something we can actually measure. Very. Easily and quickly because customers are looking at that data every day. Uh, every hour. Like you said, that data is already out there and they're looking at it. That's how they manage their workhouses. Uh, so when you go from what, you know, you have, uh, months or years of data without our technology, then you roll it out. You suddenly see a change in that. Uh, and so, like you said, it's not like you put it on and suddenly you live more or whatever it is, you're doing the same, uh, job. You're doing the same tasks. But at the end of the day, it looks more similar to how the day started. Uh, now, some customers that have have teams of industrial engineers and industrial engineer leaders that do these, um, productivity standards and build them up. And a lot of them factor in a 10% drop in productivity from the beginning to the end of the shift due to fatigue. That's kind of like called the fatigue factor. And so the interesting thing is, uh, with our technology, we're seeing, uh, most cases where that productivity actually goes up by, uh, somewhere in the 5 to 8% range. Uh, depends on the environment and what people are doing. And it's really because people are not fatigued. So doing a little bit more but actually feeling better at the end of the day, it's almost like you're going for a race and instead of the end you're like struggling. Maybe you're working because you cannot make it. You're finishing more similar to how you started. So you both feel better and have a better time. Uh, and so that's kind of the experience that we see where, um, um, you know, without shooting for it, without that being a goal, we see, uh, productivity go up due to fatigue being less than what they were used.
Ben Hopkins
[00.23.05]
Which is it? Oh, it's like. It's like shoes, right? Like if I'm wearing dress shoes in the warehouse all week versus tennis shoes. The tennis shoes get energy at me. Same concept. Right? Like same same thing. So it's just another layer. So I really like that. And you know, you know, if you work in an office, if you look at spreadsheets, you're not you might not understand this factor. But if you were out in a warehouse, if you spent a life in there and the heat and, and and everything like that, fatigue is a real I mean, it is a real part of it. And people, people need to understand that. And so I really appreciate that a lot. So now let me ask you this question. So, you know, how does it get. How does it get stored. Right. Like I know like it's a suit, right. Does it I mean, does it get hung up like a like a harness? Is there a locker for it? You know. Does it get charged in there? Like, what does it look like? Storage. And, you know, can I wash home all that type of maintenance
Ignacio Galiana
[00.23.55]
stuff? So we designed the whole experience around again simplicity. So if you think about a warehouse, let's talk about how a day in the worker life look. Right. Like they go in, they check in, they go kind of into their, um, you know, locker. They set things up. Uh, we have a motion station. So that basically is comprised of On bloggers charging stations. We actually have these apps showing, uh, you know, the top five safe lifters. Uh, you know, anything that we learn kind of on the safety score to kind of broadcast that, uh, to help them kind of get ready for the day. Uh, so a person will go to their locker, we'll grab their suit, uh, that's assigned to that person, put it on, uh, and go to work. At the end of the shift, they will return to that motion station. Uh, put the put the locker, put the system back in the locker. Takes about 30s to put on, uh, maybe 10s to take off. So that's also very important. You don't have ten minutes to spare, right? So it's, uh, 30s and 10s and, uh, you put it back in the locker, and the battery is on the charging station, and the next day, it's kind of ready for you. Um, so that's that's how it looks. And, uh, and then again, we have, uh, ways of broadcasting. Interesting stuff that we see on the data, uh, to help people stay safe and feel better at the end of the day. Uh, so we don't want to get in the way, and it needs to be a full experience. You cannot just, like, throw a bunch of boxes, uh, somewhere and hope that people will be able to use it effectively. It needs to be a full experience roll out.
Ben Hopkins
[00.25.23]
Yeah, well, you know, like, I was in the. I was in the Air Force. Um, most people know that that followed the podcast was a while ago. Um, and when it came to the PT gear that back then this the Air Force always trying to get people to do more physical training, more, more PT and everything. They put some money and everything, but the gear that we had to wear back then in the Air Force was just went to whoever the lowest bidder was. So it wasn't Nike, it wasn't Reebok. It wasn't anything that looked good. It was just cheap, you know? And that was always a feedback that everybody would say, like, if this was a a real program and it looked good and it felt good and it felt like a, like a college football, you know, facility, then people would just, would just do it. And I feel like you're you're right there. I feel like that would probably be the reception that you get from a lot of warehouse employees out there. I mean, is that true? Like what what what are people, uh, you know, what are you seeing? I mean, how how have you been received? I mean, what's kind of the feedback that you've got out there on the floor? Like, I've, I've heard some of the testimonials from your website, and I know that those guys are all into it. They're all about it, you know. But what's it been like out there from the user? Because. Because I bet people really get addicted to this type of thing and they then they can't work without it once they start using it.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.26.38]
Um, it's interesting like, and that's part of, uh, you know what, um, the reason why we started the company that, uh, a lot of, you know, the emotional paycheck. Right? Right. Of seeing those reactions and how you're creating, helping people. Um, you know, I remember talking to, uh, this associate, uh, he's like, usually I, I work till my back hurting, uh, all day, starting at the three hour mark. Go home.
Ben Hopkins
[00.27.04]
Lay on the couch, not do anything else. Uh, since I've been wearing, uh, you know, your suit for over a year. Um. I don't feel no back pain. I don't feel anything at all. Go home, play with my kids. Um, get ready for next day. Uh, it's it's change. Kind of. I feel both at work and outside of work. Uh, so hearing that, I mean, that's that's that's why we're doing this. That's why we're so excited to be building, uh, our company. And, uh, we keep hearing, uh, that at the end of the day, usually have to take ibuprofen or I had to take, uh, you know, whatever it is. Uh, because, uh, because my body, uh, art and I have to just go to the couch, and now I can go and, uh, you know, um, do the things that I like to do outside of work and enjoy more that, you know, um, work life balance, uh, both at work and, uh, and so on. Uh, so it's a lot of those, um, testimonials that, that, that feel great. And you mentioned before, like that gear that maybe wasn't, uh, you know, uh, as good as it could be or kind of, uh, you know, stuff like that. Uh, really our approach and I always use these analogies. We want to be a little bit like, um. Power steering in a car where one really notices there until you grab an old car. Like, oh my God, what is
Ignacio Galiana
[00.28.21]
oh, it's so hard to turn this thing right. And so that's when you say like, um, how does it feel to work with it versus without is really you forget you're wearing it, but it's when you turn it off, they're like, oh wow. That's kind of what it felt without it turn it back on. Um, and so that's a lot of the reactions and feelings that, that we get. Um, uh, from the, from the crowd. Yeah.
Ben Hopkins
[00.28.42]
And you know what I mean? Look, I look at it at three things in Isaiah Ignacio, like you have you have the safety part of it. Uh, you have the, the data and the analytic part of it to help you get ahead of safety. And then there's a third component and that's retention. And in distribution today retention and turnover is high. It's always high in the industry across the board. And a lot of sites across the country are trying to figure out what can we do to reduce retention. Right. What can we do to improve morale? What kind of things can we do like engagement and everything? This is huge because you're giving people their life back, right? Their energy back. This isn't a pizza party. This isn't a right like a like. This is actually something that they can take home and other people benefit, you know, their family and their kids and everything. There's more energy. So I think the retention piece. Like if I was a ops leader and I had this in my sight, this is a huge competitive advantage when absolutely turned into fighting for labor over somebody who works at a site down the road that doesn't have it. I'll tell you that right right away. So what do you think about
Ignacio Galiana
[00.29.48]
that? Yeah, totally. And when you ask a operations leader like you just said, what are your kind of top three priorities is making sure that they have predictability, that there are no, like, things they cannot predict kind of going on that day. So injuries throw that off. Uh, you know, people being fatigued at different levels throws that off. Uh, and then it's retention. Like you're, you know, suddenly the next day someone doesn't show up or drops up. And, uh, it's not like you can click your fingers and get someone, uh, back on the floor operating at the same level. Right. Like, it takes, uh, three months to train someone to get up to that level. Uh, it's, uh, it's impossible to manage. And sometimes in, in many of these environments, uh, uh, retention is really low. Like, there's a lot of turnover. And so, uh, anything you can do to keep the workforce, um, to, to, to bring longevity into the end to these people's jobs, uh, really changes everything. So when we look at return on investment or, um, um, value to the customer, we look at injury reduction. We typically see in the 60 to 85% reduction in back injuries, which is more than what they expect to see as a reduction that when we come back in, typically, um, productivity goes up by that 5 to 8% range, again, because fatigue has gone down, uh, end of the shift versus beginning of the shift. And then, uh, retention goes up. Now, that third component is admittedly hard to measure, uh, because it's affected by many things. But we've seen customers do trailing 12 month analysis and seen retention go up by, you know, the 15 to 25% range, which is, uh, which is gaining game changer, uh, in the industry. Yeah. So I put
Ben Hopkins
[00.31.29]
it in. I put it in my ad. I put an ad out to hire, uh, warehouse workers to come. I put it in there. We use verb motion, uh, to, to try to, to tip the balance over somebody else if they were thinking to go do their I mean, you know, I mean,
Ignacio Galiana
[00.31.43]
customers show our product in job fairs, recruiting event, um, you know, new people going into the warehouse to see if they want to join. So, so, yeah, you're you're you're spot on. Yeah.
Ben Hopkins
[00.31.53]
Yeah, yeah. So let me ask this. So if I'm a, if I ops leader out there and I hear this, I'm like I'm, I'm all in. I want to go all in on verb motion I want this I'm sold. Like what can I expect? I mean, what can I expect? What is the what does it look like when you start to talk with customers and then kind of what is the what is the onboarding process look like from them? How how's the setup look. Is there support? You know, talk me through what it's like when I decide to work with you. And so we sell, uh, again, a full package experience, uh, that includes, uh, a lot of the hardware components that I just mentioned, the infrastructure lockers, charging stations, the suits, um, screens show, um, some of the important analytics that we collect. Uh, but we also have a dedicated customer success manager, uh, that, uh, working alongside that customer, uh, from the. Minus one to, uh, you know, years uh, on. And so that person is there, uh, to do everything that, that is needed to, to do any type of change management or any type of, uh, onboarding that is needed. So typically, uh, it would involve, uh, um, we will, we will our team will go and set up the infrastructure, the lockers, the suits. There will be informational sessions. Training sessions. Uh, we will do, uh, fitting, uh, adjustments, fitting, um, you know, kind of train the trainer, uh, in many ways on how to set up and to the suit. It's very easy, but there's just a couple of things, like when you buy a new bike or, hey, if you look at these two things, uh, it's, uh, you know, it's a, it's a really good kind of like, bidding setup process. Um, so we do that on side, we train the right people, and then we follow up both virtually on and on site, uh, with anything that is needed. Our, our package includes any sort of, you know, something breaks. We'll just, uh, ship you a new one. Um, get a replacement out there. We want to make sure that there's always 100% of the fielded suits, um, you know, available and used. Uh, and then we will give them login credentials. They will have the, um, software analytics, uh, available from day one, and we will have, um, some things that we will do some, uh, at the beginning, especially, uh, every couple of weeks, kind of like a check in to see effective ways that they can use the analytics for coaching and any lessons learned on how the last two weeks, what's the plan for the next two weeks? So we will do that full training, onboarding, um, and then continuous improvement side of things with the customer. We also move fast. Uh, right. We have a lot of software components and the suits are upgradable and so on. And so we manage the whole lifecycle on, uh, we're just rolling in this new aspect to the program or this new feature. Uh, and so customers always know what's the latest and how to use it to leverage
Ignacio Galiana
[00.34.39]
efficiently. Um, so so it's a partnership. It's a partnership. It's not just like you get a bunch of boxes on your dock and good luck. Uh, yeah, there were there for the deployment, the onboarding, the rollout. And, uh, and then it's interesting, when you go from one side to a multi-site, uh, rollout, there's a lot of lessons that translate from one side to the next. And so we just want to make sure that, um, everything is run effectively from it. Again, change management and, and, uh, training and best practices perspective because, uh, some customers are a little bit different than others, right? Like, uh, you and you, we structure the problems for, uh, for it. So. Yeah. Yeah. And I think too, I think you might have I mean, I'm sure you probably have all different types of facilities, you know, big, big, huge distribution centers that are fast, small warehouses. And so I think there's probably a wide range of capabilities and resources and facilities that you might have. So I think having that custom. Support and custom integration, I think is a is a win. That way. You know that they're they're utilizing it to its full ability. Right. Like
Ben Hopkins
[00.35.42]
its max capacity. So yeah,
Ignacio Galiana
[00.35.44]
absolutely. Um, yeah. We have sites with hundreds of stores. We have others with, uh, you know, um, tens or 50 suits or so on. And so, yeah, we, we just craft the program and, uh, and then the, uh, check ins in the right way, we show ROI so they can log in and see how the program's staying out. We show data analytics, uh, you know, upgrades, updates, uh, everything is just the full package for them.
Ben Hopkins
[00.36.08]
I love it, man. Well, so where can people find out more about you? Um, you know, I know you're on the podcast, so you're on LinkedIn, and I know that you're that you're out there beating the streets, if you will. But where can people find out more about you and Verve motion. And what do you kind of have on the on the horizon for 2026 and beyond?
Ignacio Galiana
[00.36.28]
Yeah. Um, so, uh, our website is Amazon.com. Uh, we have a lot of resources there. Uh, you can do things like request a demo for your environment or, uh, subscribe to our blog to know what's the latest and what's coming up. Um, pretty active on LinkedIn as well, both at the company level and, and, uh, me personally, uh, so that those are places where you can, you know, reach out and, uh, in terms of what's next, uh, it's, uh, you know, it's, uh, it's really exciting. How. Whole the whole environment of a workhouse of a of a environment is, is changing. And so I'm particularly excited about we have a lot of data from this environment. There is a lot that we're going to be able to do with it very soon. On safety staying ahead on like you were saying then on what are the risks? How do we how do we eliminate them before they are easier? And so we're going to launch a lot of new features and new updates on on that software piece, both on the safety and efficiency side of things. And then, you know, we started with a bug assisted prop, uh, product because, uh, you know, that's the number one injury out there as we think about the future. Uh, we're going to go after, uh, eliminating other injuries to, uh, you know, shoulders number two, the knees needs to. And so, uh, there's a exciting future for, um, ergonomics in these environments, uh, for efficiency, for really running things. Um, the way, you know, the way we should, uh, in terms of, uh, you know, this environment. So very excited about what, uh, what the future is holding for us there.
Ben Hopkins
[00.38.04]
Very cool. Man. I, I, I told you in the beginning I'm even more of a fan now. I'm even more of a fan now of, uh, verve, motion. And what you do after talking with you on the show. So, uh, it was awesome. Uh, I really love it. Uh, great product, great company. Ignacio, thank you very much for appearing on the podcast. Man. It was, uh, it was a pleasure. Um, best of luck to you guys in the future. And I'm sure, I'm sure I'll see you around either shows or on the LinkedIn streets, as they say.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.38.30]
Yeah. Thank you so much. Then this was, uh, this was, uh, super exciting. And thanks for everything you do. Uh, you know, to to on on establishing what, uh, everything about a new world class. So, uh, very excited to talk to you then. And we'll keep in touch.
Ben Hopkins
[00.38.45]
You got it, man, I appreciate it. Take care, my friend. Bye bye. Thank you.
Ignacio Galiana
[00.38.51]
All right, guys, please check out Verve Motion. I'm gonna put a link to their website on the warehouse underground comm, where the podcast is planned. I'll put it out there on LinkedIn, on my newsletter. I want everybody to go to them because this is a fantastic product for warehouse and distribution center employees everywhere, and they can really benefit for it. For all the reasons that we talked about on the show and more. So thank you again to Ignacio. As the Warehouse Underground goes, please sign up for the community. We have over 300 people that have signed up for the community and there it's free. The warehouse, underground comm. We have message boards, networking resources in there, and we have a live show that we are working to be at the end of this month, bringing in a well-known warehouse supply chain recruiter, uh, to talk about some of the stuff there. So be on the lookout for that in the future. And also, please check out the Tiger Team show. That is the other show that I do the spin off with my co-host, Jordan. It's everything that's going on in warehouses, distribution centers and fulfillment centers, but with a witty, sarcastic, humorous slant to it. So if you guys are working out there and you want some lighthearted relief, check that show out. I'm sure you will like it. Thank you again, Ignacio. As this podcast goes, I will see you guys next week for another episode. Thank you for listening. Bye bye.
