Part 1: What is Micro-Fulfillment?

Micro-fulfillment (sometimes called hyperlocal fulfillment) involves the sort of automated storage found in distribution centers – but at a much smaller scale and closer to consumers. A response to growing ecommerce and shrinking brick-and-mortar sales, the micro-fulfillment trend was already emerging before COVID-19. Now, the idea of turning retail locations into touchless vending machines has even broader appeal.

Brittain Ladd, chief marketing officer for PULSE Integration, joins Josh Bond, Senior Editor of Modern Materials Handling, to discuss trends in micro-fulfillment and how the current and future landscapes might drive adoption of compact automated storage solutions while spurring supply chain evolution.

PULSE Integration, a WEPCO company based in Pittston Pa., combines design expertise and seamless integration with intentional transparency to provide clients with scalable engineered solutions. Cultivating more than 45 years of material handling experience, WEPCO launched PULSE Integration to help companies leverage the right mix of technology (digital and physical) in their facilities.

The PULSE team ingrains Industry 4.0 thinking into the design philosophy at every level to deliver technology-neutral solutions that adapt to continuously-evolving customer requirements.