Maersk builds e-commerce micro-fulfillment center in Dallas

Global marine container carrier A.P. Moller – Maersk will open a 38,000-square-foot automated fulfillment center in Dallas that is powered by robotic and software technology from micro-fulfillment center (MFC) provider Fabric, the firms said today.

The goal of the facility is to use an AI-driven, automated e-commerce fulfillment solution in an urban environment to maximize warehouse productivity and minimize real estate footprint requirements. Final facility preparations are now underway, and the site is expected to be fully operational this fall in support of an unnamed online business to consumer (B2C) retailer.

"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 in a release.

The system is optimized to fulfill orders of single-picked items for same-day or next-day delivery, since it puts goods closer to population centers than large, rural DCs, thereby cutting shipping costs and expediting delivery times, Maersk said. The system will rely on Fabric’s high-density, high-throughput, cube-based storage system to leverage warehouse ceiling heights and maximize the potential of smaller facility footprints.

The deal is Fabric’s latest move to expand its reach, after it gained a $200 million venture capital round in 2021 after installing micro-fulfillment operations for grocery and general merchandise retailers in New York City, Washington, DC, and Tel Aviv, Israel.