Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses, has raised $150 million in a Series E round, led by Tiger Global Management and Bond, bringing its valuation to the unicorn level north of $1 billion as its business multiplies. The company is looking to expand in Europe and enter APAC in 2022.
Ahold Delhaize, the Netherlands-based grocery conglomerate that owns Stop & Shop, Giant and other U.S. chains, plans to pilot micro-fulfillment technology at one of Giant’s fulfillment centers in Philadelphia as it competes with Kroger’s e-fulfillment model using tech partner Ocado.
First it was AI-equipped onboard cameras watching Amazon’s contract drivers along their routes. Now an app called Mentor monitors driver performance, which can interpret legitimate activities as risky ones, resulting in lower scores and sometimes termination. The company has reportedly been using Mentor for years.
The pandemic has highlighted the indisputable need for end-to-end supply chain transformation, and to move beyond traditional demand planning and forecasting. Retailers need to incorporate a more integrated approach to maximize their ability to respond with agility and resilience, focusing on flexible problem solving.
The U.S. Postal Service had a very rare quarter in the black, and the Postmaster General promised to implement a bold 10-year plan to address shortfalls in service, infrastructure and the workforce, saying the disastrous delivery performance over the holidays was unacceptable.
With the imperative to reduce returns shipping costs, it’s no wonder SMB fulfillment teams increasingly look for data trends. Patterns can help identify recurring fulfillment errors, which can be eliminated to help reduce avoidable returns. But as the stakes continue to rise, how do you address “unavoidable” returns?
Yet another effort is underway in Congress to eliminate the costly prefunding of retiree healthcare benefits that have been an albatross for the U.S. Postal Service since a 2006 reform measure, and this time appears to have some more bipartisan momentum.
Discount retail chain Family Dollar is jumping on the same-day delivery bandwagon through a national partnership with last mile leader Instacart, covering 6,000 of its stores in the U.S., the companies announced. They ran a successful pilot program in late 2020 at 275 Family Dollar stores and are now expanding it nationally.
The NLRB on Feb. 5 denied Amazon’s request to delay a planned union vote at its fulfillment center in Bessemer, AL, clearing the way for a vote by mail-in ballot beginning Monday and continuing through March 29. A positive vote would be the first chink in Amazon’s formidable anti-union wall, but experts say it’s a long shot.
For some ecommerce and multichannel companies, using third-party fulfillment (3PL) can be a viable alternative and provide high customer service as an option to internal fulfillment. The burning question for management: “How will it compare in terms of costs?” Here’s a step-by-step process for conducting your analysis.