How We Ship So Fast (Robots, Scales & Software)

We sell electronics and STEM gear to makers, schools and universities right across Australia, and the one thing every one of those customers wants is the same: their parts, fast. Getting an order out the door quickly isn't luck — it's the result of years of building our own warehouse robots, software and hardware so that the moment you click "buy", a small army of machines starts working on your parcel.

Here's a peek behind the curtain at some of the crazy things we do to dispatch your order as quickly as humanly (and robotically) possible.

Meet Bishop, our Raspberry Pi picking robot

Bishop is our warehouse picking robot — named after the android in the film Aliens — and yes, it's powered by a Raspberry Pi, the very same tiny computer we sell by the thousands. Think of Bishop as a giant, intelligent vending machine for our most popular products: a tall shelf full of stock with a shuttle that glides along it, plucks the right items, and drops them into a picking bin ready to be packed.

When an order comes in, our shipping software works out which line items Bishop holds, then tells the robot exactly what to fetch. Under the hood, Bishop behaves like a CNC machine flipped on its side: stepper motors move the shuttle along the shelves, sensors track its position, a clever 3D-printed "finger" — inspired by a toy train — gently slides each product into the shuttle, and a tailgate tips it into the pick bin. A camera even double-checks the right product was picked.

Bishop's shuttle, which travels along the shelf, picks each product, and delivers it to a picking bin.

The whole point of automating the picking line is to keep things fast and keep prices accessible — especially for the classrooms and labs that rely on us. Bishop was built in collaboration with Nick Owen from Nuvotion, and runs on the brilliant open-source LinuxCNC project.

Koi — the shipping software we built ourselves

Most stores bolt their shipping onto off-the-shelf software. We built our own. Koi is the warehouse and shipping platform that runs our dispatch operation end to end — it knows our stock, where every product lives, talks to Bishop, generates carrier labels (including Australia Post eParcel) in a single click, and tracks your parcel once it leaves us.

Because Koi is purpose-built for the way we work, there are no clunky hand-offs between systems. The order you place flows straight into picking, packing and labelling without anyone re-typing details — which means fewer mistakes and a faster trip from "order placed" to "on the truck".

A photo of every line item

As each order is packed, we automatically take a photo of the items going into the box. It's a small thing that makes a big difference: it gives us a visual record of exactly what was packed, so if there's ever a query about an order we can check in seconds rather than playing detective. That accuracy keeps the line moving and keeps your parcels right.

We snap a photo of the items in every order as it's packed, so there's always a record of what went in the box.

Scales that weigh and ship in one click

Even the scales on our packing benches are custom-built. Inside each one is an Arduino that talks directly to Koi in the browser over WebUSB — no drivers, no clunky desktop software. As a packer places a parcel on the scale, the weight updates live on screen, carrier rates recalculate instantly, and the shipping label is ready to print. The scale even warns us if a parcel looks over- or under-weight, so problems get caught before the parcel leaves.

The core components are manufactured right here in Sydney. One-click weighing and labelling shaves precious seconds off every single parcel — and across thousands of orders, that adds up to your order getting out the door a whole lot sooner.

Same-day delivery with GoPeople

Sometimes same day isn't fast enough to wait for the post — you need it in your hands today. On weekdays we offer same-day delivery through GoPeople: a courier collects your order straight from our Sydney warehouse and drives it to your door the same day. If GoPeople covers your address and every item is in stock, the option and its live rate simply appear at checkout.

When GoPeople same-day delivery is available for your address, it appears as a shipping option at checkout.

It's the fastest way to get an order from us, and it pairs perfectly with everything above — because Bishop, Koi and our scales get your parcel packed and ready before the courier even arrives. For the full details, see Pickups & Same-Day Delivery.

Watch your order arrive in real time

Fast dispatch is only half the story — once your parcel is on the move, you shouldn't have to guess where it is. For same-day GoPeople deliveries, the tracking page in your account shows live GPS: a map that follows your driver as they make their way to you, so you can see exactly how far away they are.

Live GPS tracking on the order page follows your driver on a map, alongside their delivery details.

Alongside the map you'll see your delivery agent's details and the live status of the run, so there are no nasty surprises — you know who's bringing your parcel and roughly when they'll knock. For everything else that ships via Australia Post or another carrier, every dispatched order still gets a tracking number and link. See Tracking Your Delivery for the full rundown.

Filter for products that ship fastest

The single biggest factor in how quickly your order arrives is whether the items are held in our own Sydney warehouse or ordered in from a supplier. Locally-stocked items can be picked by Bishop and dispatched the same day; supplier items have extra lead time while the stock comes to us.

So if speed matters most, you can shop for exactly those fast movers. On any collection page, tick the "Ships from Australia" filter and we'll show only the products we hold locally and can get out the door quickly.

Tick "Ships from Australia" on any collection to see only the products we hold in our Sydney warehouse for the fastest dispatch.

To understand the difference between locally-stocked and supplier items in more detail, see How We Show Stock, Lead Times & Delivery ETAs.

See your inbound supplier stock, live

What if the part you need is coming in from one of our suppliers? Most stores leave you completely in the dark until the item magically appears as "shipped". We don't. For supplier and backordered items, we show you the live inbound shipment status — the very same tracking information we receive from our supplier as your stock makes its way to our Sydney warehouse.

For supplier items, you can see the same live inbound shipment status we do as your stock travels to our warehouse.

That means no guessing and no chasing us for updates — you can watch your part get closer in real time, then the moment it lands with us it's picked, packed and dispatched to you. For more on how supplier items and lead times work, see How We Show Stock, Lead Times & Delivery ETAs and Backorders & Overseas Stock.

Track your order with AI — our MCP server, feeds & webhooks

We're an AI-first store, so you can plug your order tracking straight into the tools you already use. If you have an AI assistant that speaks MCP (Model Context Protocol) — like Claude or ChatGPT — you can connect it to your own personal Little Bird MCP server and simply ask where your order is. The connection URL includes your private authentication token, so your assistant sees the same order details you would when logged in.

Once connected, your assistant can use tools such as:

Your Orders — view your order history and details
Reorder — check current availability for a past order
Your Quotes — view your quotes and pricing
Your Wishlist and Your Addresses — products you've saved and your saved shipping addresses
Search Products, Product Details, Browse Collections and Store Info — explore the catalogue, stock levels, contact details and policies

Treat your MCP URL like a password — anyone who has it can see your account details, so keep it private.

Prefer something simpler? Every account also has an Order Feed (RSS) — subscribe to it in any RSS reader to get order status updates as they happen. And if you're a developer, you can set up webhooks that fire real-time notifications for events like Order confirmed, Order shipped, Order fulfilled, Order refunded, Back in stock and Price drop — and you can even scope a webhook to a single product or collection.

For the full developer rundown, see LLMs & AI Agents, Webhooks and Atom Feeds (RSS).

What this means for your order

All of this — the robot, the software, the photos, the scales, the live tracking and the AI tools — exists for one reason: we want to be the most awesome place you order from, and we want your shipping to be the most magical experience you've ever had. That means getting your order dispatched as fast as possible without cutting corners or pushing up prices, and keeping you in the loop every step of the way. In-stock orders placed and paid before our weekday cutoff are usually picked, packed and dispatched the same day.

Want to know how the dispatch and delivery timing works once your parcel is on its way? See Dispatch Lead Time vs Transit Time and Estimated Delivery Times. In a real hurry? Take a look at Pickups & Same-Day Delivery.

How We Ship So Fast (Robots, Scales & Software)