A.P. Moller – Maersk taps Fabric for new automated fulfillment center

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A.P. Moller – Maersk is teaming up with Fabric, an automation supplier for retailers that focuses on micro fulfillment centers, to implement an AI-driven automated fulfillment center for e-commerce. The 38,000-square-foot fulfillment center is located in Dallas, TX. 

The fulfillment center is powered by Fabric’s advanced robotic and software technology. It features an AI-driven, automated e-commerce fulfillment system that maximizes warehouse productivity while also minimizing real estate footprint requirements. 

Fabric’s high-density, high-throughput cube-based storage system can fully leverage warehouse ceiling heights to maximize the potential of smaller facility footprints. 

“The growth of E-commerce continues to reshape the retail landscape. As we look to help our customers streamline their supply chains end-to-end, we see Fabric’s automated fulfillment solution as one that is highly capable of meeting the demand for efficient warehousing and fulfillment where labor and real estate resources are scarce,” Erez Agmoni, Maersk’s global head of innovation – logistics & services, said.

Fabric’s system also uses advanced robots and software, the system is optimized to fulfill orders of single-picked items for same-day or next-day deliveries. This design makes the technology well-suited for distributed warehouse networks in urban areas, which puts goods closer to population centers, cutting shipping costs and speeding up delivery times.

“With our proven track record of operating our state-of-the-art facilities for the past five years, we have honed our capabilities to make each piece of the fulfillment process work together seamlessly to enable retailers to unlock the business value of fulfillment automation. Teaming up with Maersk allows each company to do what it does best, with the ultimate goal of offering retailers unprecedented value and service,” Avi (Jack) Jacoby, Fabric’s CEO, said. 

The Dallas facility is optimized for high-volume, business-to-consumer e-commerce, and is capable of managing up to 25,000 SKUs. Facility preparations are currently underway, and the site is expected to be fully operational this fall in support of an online B2C retailer. 

Last year, Fabric laid off 40% of its staff and announced the company would pivot from a Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) to a platform sales model. According to the company, this shift was made to better align with customer needs.