In-Store Micro-Fulfillment for Global Home Goods Retailer

Here’s a first look at a new in-store micro-fulfillment system we designed for a global home goods retailer. It’s the company’s first in-store automation/micro-fulfillment operation in North America.  The client wanted to find a way to utilize its store space to improve its customers’ shopping experience through enhanced processing of …

Why the Status Quo Won’t Cut It in Today’s Fulfillment Market

Given the seismic shift in retail competition and the accompanying transformation in consumer expectations that has arisen as a result over the past years, the pressure on retailers to dramatically enhance order fulfillment capabilities is palpable. But while many retailers are addressing these challenges by investing in new and more …

How Automated Fulfillment Improves the E-Commerce Shopping Experience

In a hyper-competitive e-commerce landscape, companies that provide a positive e-commerce shopping experience can tighten the bond between their brand and their customer base. A tight bond with customers means e-commerce retailers can spend fewer dollars on new customer acquisitions as loyal shoppers spread the word on social media about …

Why Size Matters in Fulfillment Solutions and Fulfillment Solutions Providers

In an industry dominated by super-sized competitors, we often hear concerns about whether MSI Automate is a large enough company to provide the kind of fulfillment solutions that will adequately address our clients’ distribution challenges. Concerned prospects, weighing the choice between industry giants and a comparatively smaller competitor, often wonder …

MSI Automate's Robotic Automated Storage and Retrieval System

Why an ASRS is a Must-Have in the E-Commerce Fulfillment Game

Ecommerce has ushered in an era of constant variability in order demand as online and mobile shoppers expect to be able to buy any product at any time. Constant variability makes it difficult for companies to predict what they will be selling on any given day. From one day to …

Using Last Minute Decisions to Fulfill Last Minute E-Commerce Orders

Of all the challenges e-commerce fulfillment operations face (diminishing delivery windows, unpredictable fluctuations in order volumes and items ordered, stabilizing operating expenses in an unstable production environment), perhaps the most challenging of all is the need to accommodate unpredictable fulfillment windows. One of the great unknowns for ecommerce operations is …

How a Single Stream Inventory Strategy Enhances ROI

In a previous blog, we discussed the numerous operational benefits that omnichannel retailers gain by switching inventory strategies from one that maintains separate inventories for each sales channel to one that enables processing retail, ecommerce, and wholesale orders from a single stream of inventory. In serving as the cornerstone of …

Why a Single Stream of Inventory Matters in Omnichannel Fulfillment

More than a decade ago when omnichannel retailers first began adding ecommerce fulfillment to their distribution operations, they typically set up separate material handling systems to process retail, wholesale, and ecommerce orders. In doing so, they also set up separate inventories dedicated to each channel. But having separate fulfillment operations …

Customer Loyalty: The Overlooked Underestimated Benefit of Automation

Many retailers are considering investments in automated fulfillment systems today because of the strategic benefits and competitive edge automation can bring — especially to retailers facing omnichannel distribution challenges. But when it comes to actually investing in automation, some retailers shy away from the level of change that will net …

How Big Data Will Improve DC Productivity

In the era of Intralogistics 4.0, companies will turn to “big data” analysis to find ways to fix problems and improve productivity in their distribution centers (DCs.) Big data analysis is the process of examining large data sets to discover hidden patterns, unknown correlations, and obscure connections. By identifying relationships …