By
Bob Trebilcock
January 22, 2024
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What will the e-commerce distribution center of the future look like? And which of the tools in the automation toolkit might come together to minimize touches as product flows through a building, all while making the best and most productive use of the human component of those operations?
Warehouse operators are asking those questions every day as they design new systems and as new solutions are introduced into the market. One potential answer is a 400,000-square-foot, e-fulfillment facility near Columbus, Ohio, operated by GEODIS, a global third-party logistics (3PL) provider that has been a leader in the adoption of new automation technologies. Modern first published an article about GEODIS’s adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in the February 2019 issue.
The new facility for specialty retailer Maurices (designed by GEODIS’s internal team and Bastian Solutions), is an omnichannel building that fulfills direct-to-consumer orders; store replenishment; and buy online/ship-to-store from a single inventory with minimum touches. In retail fulfillment operations, most inventory is touched only once from the time an order drops until it goes out the door.
Bob Trebilcock was the executive editor for Modern Materials Handling and an editorial advisor to Supply Chain Management Review. He has covered materials handling, technology, logistics, and supply chain topics for nearly 30 years. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. He retired in 202 but serves as a consultant to Modern and Peerless Media.
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