Retailers Like the Idea of Micro Fulfillment Centers but Need Help Conceptualizing the Ideal Solution
The micro fulfillment automation market is one of the fastest growing – largely driven by explosive, sustained growth in grocery e-commerce credited to the pandemic. But micro fulfillment centers (MFC) are still a mystery to many retailers, with most asking, “when and why would they make sense for me?”
The Appeal of MFCs
Many retailers need to expand e-commerce fulfillment capacity but don’t have financial resources to open new warehouses or distribution centers (DC). What they do have, in many cases, is underutilized space in their stores.
The recent reduction in foot traffic now seems permanent, and ongoing SKU rationalization efforts are driving shrinkage in certain categories. This is enabling retailers to consolidate front-of-store aisles and checkout lanes so they can convert part of the facility to an MFC, maximizing existing real estate and logistics operations to quickly increase fulfillment capabilities.
In fact, one of the key benefits of MFCs is their modularity and scalability. They can be easily designed for different footprints, which is valuable considering how varied store and DC sizes are today. And deployments often take weeks to complete versus the years normally required to bring more traditional DCs or bot-based automated facilities online.
Plus, MFCs’ last-mile proximity to customers makes them ideal mechanisms for meeting direct-to-door shipping and delivery demands. At the same time, inbound MFC deliveries can be managed the same way as store deliveries, with goods unloaded from the same trucks at the same time. Workers just need to know if they should move pallets and packages to store or MFC shelves.
Delivering the Right MFC Model
MFCs, though wildly popular, are still maturing. There is no single best design yet. Then again, maybe there never will be given how tailored each MFC must be to a retailer’s physical space, order volume, labor resources, and automation capabilities. That’s even more reason why technology providers and integrators must collaborate when asked to consult on an MFC build. There are several technologies inside a typical MFC, and each solution iterations will have inherent advantages and disadvantages.
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Source story from Mark Delaney:
Mark Delaney is currently a retail industry consultant at Zebra Technologies (https://www.zebra.com). In this role, he works with retailers’ c-level leaders to determine which strategic technology solutions can best address their current challenges. He keeps a strong pulse on industry trends and frequently solicits retailers’ feedback on the technology investments that Zebra is making to help inform and advance the company’s innovation with a customer-first mindset. Mark was previously responsible for Zebra’s mobile computing retail strategy.
