b'JUNE 21 - JULY 25, 2021WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION 13(FUTUREcontinued fromThesolutionusesamulti- roughly 15,000 SKUs. (INVESTScontinued fromand workflows more efficient page 6) shuttlesystem,whichstoresThatsaboutone-quar- page 11) and productive. This is typi-wantpersonalizedrecom- and sequences products amongterofthenumberofSKUshave real challenges that ourcally achieved by performing mendations from their onlinebulk stock, picking, and order- found in a typical large U.S.robotsarealreadysolving,non-value-addedtasks,such retailers. assembly locations to increasesupermarket, Scriven noted,and, with us, theyre seizingastransporting,pickingup, Groceries are largely respon- speed,density,accuracy,andleaving slow-moving SKUstheincredibleopportunityand dropping off products, in sibleforWalmartse-com- throughput.tobepickedfromwithinrightnowtoeffectrobotic- order to free up colleagues to merce growth in the last twoThe compact design makesthe store. Most micro-ful- poweredchangetosomeofperform other tasks that add years,andtheretailinggiantitpossibletoinstallinthefillmentsiteswillleveragetheworldsmostinnovativevaluetotheoperation.DB hasembarkedonamicro- backofexistingretailloca- brick-and-mortarstores,organizations. Schenkerhasalreadyintro-fulfillmentstrategybyestab- tions, supporting online ordersheadded,atleastfornow,GideonBrothersspecial- ducedautonomousrobots lishingwhatitcallsmarketforconsumerswithinaspe- whileextensionstocur- izesintheflexibleautoma- fromGideonBrothersatits fulfillmentcenters(MFCs),cific radius, said Hasan Dan- rent real estate may becometion of horizontal and verticallocationinLeipziginGer-firstpilotedinSalem,Newdashly,thecompanysCEO.prevalent down the road. Inmaterial handling processes formany,thusrelyingonthe Hampshire, in late 2019. MFCsThatenablescompaniestotwo years, Scriven projected,logistics,warehousing,manu- flexiblesolutioninexisting arecompact,modularware- betterusespaceinexistingmicro-fulfillmentcentersfacturing, and retail businesses.warehouses where productiv-housesbuiltwithin,oraddedstores, streamline e-commercewill account for 20% of U.S.Withitsadvancedmobileity can be gained without the to, a store, said Tom Ward, aorder fulfillment and last-milebusinessspendingongro- robots and complete softwareneed to modify facilities.Walmart senior vice president.delivery, and provide a bettercery warehouse automation. solutionsforautonomousAccordingtoarecent consumerexperienceonlineDematics Dandashly believesindoor and outdoor operations,researchconductedbyABI C oMPaCt andh Ighd ensIty and in-store. thatgroceriesrepresentjustthe company helps businessesResearchtheglobalmobile Micro-fulfillment centersThe10,000square-footthebeginningofthemicro- solvetheirmostcomplexrobotics market is expected to arefundamentallycompactscale accommodated by Dematicfulfillment phenomenon. Thesupplychainchallenges:grow to 158.6 billion USD by and high-density, one reasonis typical of the size of auto- retail market is ripe for auto- risingcustomerexpectations,2030. There will be over 15 whyimplementingtherightmatedmicro-fulfillmentcen- mationdisruption,hesaid,increasedproductvariabilitymillionautonomousmobile technologyisimportanttoters,accordingtoScriven.and Dematic has been receiv- and logistics volumes, growingrobots in the world by then, theirsuccess.InWalmartsSuchafacilitywouldcostingrobustinterestfromvariety of distribution channels,and some type of Visual Per-case, automated bots retrieveapproximately $4 million to(FUTUREcontinued onand ultimately, labor shortage. ception will power 90 percent the items from within the ful- build,hesaid,andhousepage 23) AMRsmakeprocessesof those machines.fillmentcenter,saidWard, and bring them to a picking workstation.Butthehuman elementisnoteliminated, aspersonalshoppersensure thatfreshitemslikepro-duce, meat, and seafood are up to standards. The system promotesquickerpicking, accordingtoWard,allow-ing orders to be delivered orSPEED TO madeavailableforpickup within an hour. Walmart will be building MFCswithvarioustech- MARKETnology partners, said Ward, includingDematic,which also automated micro-fulfill-ment centers for PepsiCo and theU.S.grocerMeijer,the firstcompanytoimplement Dematicsmicro-fulfillment solution.Meijerseesmicro- LOWER fulfillmentasonewayto make shopping easy and con-venient,accordingtoSid Handa, the companys direc- COSTtor of strategic supply chain initiatives. Dematics micro-fulfillment technology allows us to maximize space in our stores,helpusexpandour online shopping options, andExperience proves cargo shipped from Asia through keeppacewithconsumerthe Seattle+Tacoma gateway gets there faster. Let demandforpersonalizedus show you the difference less congestion, efficient shopping solutions. multimodal operations, and best-in-class customer Dematic is a leading pro- care can mean to you. When time to market is vider of technology for micro- critical, choose The Northwest Seaport Alliance. NWSeaportAlliance.comfulfillment centers, according to Scriven, as is Takeoff Technol-ogies, which, in 2019, signed a $150 million deal with Knapp AG,awarehouseautomation company,tobuild50micro-fulfillmentcentersacrossthe U.S.thatprocess$1.5billion in annual e-commerce grocery sales.Woolworths,Wakefern Food Corp., ShopRite, Albert-sons, and Sedanos Supermar-kets,Scrivennoted,haveall partneredwithTakeoffTech-nologies to establish micro-ful-fillment centers within the last couple of years.Dematics micro-fulfillment solutioncanbeinstalledin locations as small as 10,000 squarefeetandaccommo-datesambient,cold,and frozentemperaturezones.'