Breathe Technologies

Breathe Technologies Ltd is a UK warehouse automation integrator and software developer based at Techspace Two, Sci-Tech Daresbury, in Cheshire. The company was incorporated on 15 September 2009 (Companies House number 07019000) and lists David Carroll as owner. It supplies hardware, software and integration services to warehouse and fulfilment operations across the United Kingdom, and says it has delivered more than 330 projects.

Breathe organises its work around five warehouse process stages. For receiving it deploys conveyors, ATLS systems and ProGlove wearable scanners; for put-away and despatch it installs LIBIAO sortation robots, mechanical sortation and conveyors and works with AutoStore; for picking it offers flow pick, goods-to-person, pick-to-light and robotic picking; and for packing it supplies autobaggers, semi-automated bagging, carton erectors and sealers, fit-to-size packaging and automated labelling. Named equipment partners are Libiao Robotics (robotic sortation), Adpak (automated bagging), Logopak (automated labelling), Sparck (automated packaging), Versatile (dynamic automation) and ProGlove (wearables). For Libiao's modular multi-level 3D Sort robots, Breathe cites up to 1,000 sort destinations in a 20 m by 20 m footprint and up to 1,000 units per hour per operator; a Specsavers operations head is quoted on the system's footprint and expandability.

Its own software, sold as the Breathe IQ suite (also written BreatheIQ), has five modules that can be deployed alone or together. WES IQ is a warehouse execution system that sits between the customer's warehouse management system and the automation, sequencing orders against cut-off windows and balancing workload across stations. WCS IQ is a warehouse control system that runs conveyors, sortation, scanning, labelling, robotics and goods-to-person equipment from one dashboard, with fault alerting and run-time-based maintenance scheduling. Pick IQ optimises pick routes and batches orders by location outside the WMS; Slot IQ recommends SKU slotting; Pack IQ covers packing. Pick IQ and Slot IQ are sold as monthly subscriptions with a typical 12-week deployment, and the company names Blue Yonder and Manhattan among compatible WMS platforms.

Published customers include Specsavers, DHL, GXO, Amazon, Pets at Home, QVC, WHSmith, Mountain Warehouse and Roman, and the company has led The Perfume Shop into warehouse automation. Case figures it reports include a 300 percent throughput increase and 88,000 orders packed per week at Pets at Home, where an integrated system handles segregation and routing of prescription pet medicine orders, and a 35 percent productivity uplift with 65 percent less walking for GXO. After installation it provides annual service contracts, ad hoc maintenance, remote diagnostics and on-site engineering across major equipment brands.

Breathe was named a Liverpool City Region Tech Climber and received a Bridge AI award. Headcount, revenue and outside funding are not published; the website lists five leadership members and fourteen further team members.