Peak Season Ready: Radial Improves Device Check-in/Check-Out Time by 96%

Radial, becoming Paxon, one of North America’s leading third-party logistics (3PL) providers, specializing in scalable fulfillment, secure payment and fraud protection, and end-to-end operational support for mid-market and enterprise brands. With more than 40 years of industry expertise, Radial offers reliable logistics solutions that help brands meet rising consumer expectations and maintain seamless, secure and superior eCommerce experiences, from click to delivery.

With a large network of facilities across the U.S. and Canada, Radial manages over 6,000 TC Zebra mobile devices, which are used by thousands of employees every day. These devices power mission-critical workflows such as picking, packing, receiving, inventory management and outbound shipping, which become even more demanding during peak retail seasons. As Radial grew, so did the urgency to modernize its mobile device operations and gain real-time intelligence across its facilities. The company required an integrated solution that could increase device visibility, reduce manual processes and deliver a unified, data-driven view of workforce and device performance across its fulfillment centers.

The Challenge

Radial’s commitment to efficiency and scalability drove the need for a more agile mobile device management solution. As a leading 3PL, Radial’s IT infrastructure is built to withstand the intense operational demands of high-volume periods, where speed and accuracy are critical. Seasonal workforce surges introduce challenges like limited training time, frequent shift changes, and the need for seamless device handovers.

Legacy manual and siloed device management processes hindered these goals. Supervisors relied on spreadsheets and manual logs to track thousands of scanners, leaving them with minimal visibility into device status or location.

Radial identified that manual check-in and check-out processes created bottlenecks during shift changes, resulting in long lines that consumed over 80 labour hours across fulfillment centers and impacted productivity during peak season. Lost or unreturned scanners caused downtime and drove hundreds of thousands of dollars in replacement costs.

Radial prioritized modernizing how devices were updated to better support peak operations. Traditional rollout methods required scheduled maintenance windows and on-site technicians, limiting the team’s ability to respond quickly to changing operational demands. To stay ahead of peak season, Radial sought a more agile approach that could support rapid, uninterrupted updates at scale.

Training was also identified as a key area to optimize ahead of seasonal ramp-up. With a workforce representing more than 120 language backgrounds and a significant influx of seasonal employees, Radial recognized the need for a more scalable and consistent onboarding approach, one that could reduce reliance on in-person training and accelerate time-to-productivity.

To support peak performance and long-term scalability, Radial took a proactive approach to identifying a solution that could streamline device management, simplify training, and enable faster response to operational demands.

The Solution

Radial needed to shift from reactive fixes to proactive intelligence and bring all device management, troubleshooting and frontline workflows into one connected system. It turned to the SOTI ONE Platform, deploying SOTI MobiControl, SOTI XSight and SOTI Snap to create a single environment for device management, real-time insight and automated workflows.

To support peak performance and long-term scalability, Radial took a proactive approach to identifying a solution that could streamline device management, simplify training, and enable faster response to operational demands.

With SOTI XSight, Radial transformed its handheld scanners into a live intelligence system. Using the Live View* feature, each device displays on an interactive map with color-coded signals representing device health, productivity and location in real-time. Supervisors can hover over any device to instantly see who is using it, how the device is performing and whether a slowdown is caused by the device or the user. This “time on task, time off task” visibility allowed Radial to identify issues immediately, reduce guesswork and make faster decisions on the floor.

Radial updated its check-in/check-out process by replacing manual, shift-based exchanges with a virtual locker system built in SOTI Snap. This automated workflow, running consistently across all fulfillment centers, streamlines the entire device handover process. At the start of a shift, an employee picks up a scanner, scans their ID and the device is automatically assigned to them, eliminating long lines, manual logging and shift-change bottlenecks. At the end of the shift, any device that isn’t returned is immediately flagged. Operations managers receive an end-of-shift report showing which employees have not logged their devices back in and can track each device’s location through Live View*. This process significantly reduces missing or lost devices and ensures full accountability across every site. Supervisors now have clear visibility into employee productivity, device usage and whether devices have been returned or logged out, helping reduce the number of missing or lost devices.

To support its multilingual workforce and large seasonal hiring, Radial used SOTI MobiControl to deploy a training and translation application across 6,000 devices. By moving training onto the device, Radial replaced labor-intensive, in-person onboarding previously led by supervisors. This created a scalable, reliable way to train employees and ensure consistent training completion across all facilities.

Together, the SOTI ONE Platform helped Radial move from manual, siloed and reactive processes to a fully connected, proactive and data-driven mobility environment across every facility.

The Results

The impact of the SOTI ONE Platform was immediate. One of the most significant improvements was the check-in/check-out process for mobile devices. Previously, consuming more than 80 hours per day across 20 facilities, the process now takes just five minutes per shift, boosting productivity by 96%. Employees pick up devices directly from their department, improving units per hour (UPH) and increasing device accountability. Real-time visibility into device usage has nearly eliminated missing devices and the associated replacement costs.

Visibility has advanced dramatically with Live View*. Supervisors now have a real-time interactive map of all 6,000 devices, enabling proactive detection of issues such as failing batteries or out-of-range devices. Performance reporting is more accurate, clearly distinguishing device issues from true underperformance or employee breaks.

Maintenance windows, once a major operational hurdle, are no longer required. Updates that previously needed four or eight-hour maintenance scheduled windows can now be completed in an hour or less, sometimes minutes. This keeps Radial responsive during peak periods when delays can impact service levels.

Training and onboarding are now faster and more scalable. With SOTI MobiControl, Radial can push real-time updates to its multilingual training apps, ensuring workers always have the most current information. Seasonal employees ramp up independently from day one, reducing supervisor training time and manual intervention. Radial also gains centralized visibility into training completion across all fulfillment centers, improving consistency and operational readiness during the peak period.

Radial sees these results as just the start. With the foundation of the SOTI ONE Platform in place, the company is now exploring additional opportunities, including extending intelligence to printers using SOTI Connect.