In advancing its stated priority to upgrade distribution, Macy’s has opened a new automated customer fulfillment and store replenishment center in China Grove, NC, which will begin operations as the company’s largest and most technologically advanced facility to date.
By supporting all product categories from home to beauty, the new facility will facilitate more shipments from a single location and, so, ensure products reach consumers faster and in fewer boxes. The China Grove facility will initially support customer fulfillment and store replenishment for the Macy’s nameplate stores, with plans to take on additional banners over the next two years, the company maintained.
Equipped with state-of-the-art automation and an advanced warehouse management system, the 2.5 million square foot facility has the largest storage capacity, highest productivity and most significant throughput potential in the company’s network. The new facility’s scale and technology will process more orders and replenish stores faster and more efficiently, Macy’s indicated, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers.
Macy’s pointed out that China Grove is the company’s third distribution facility to introduce high-performance automation and the first to operate with an advanced warehouse management system. At the first two sites, automation installed more than doubled productivity, demonstrating its power to transform operations. With the addition of the new management system, the company expects China Grove to achieve even greater gains in fulfillment and store replenishment efficiency and accuracy, while establishing a model to scale the technology across the distribution network in the years ahead.
“The opening of our China Grove facility is a significant step in modernizing our supply chain and elevating the customer experience across every channel, with faster deliveries, well-stocked stores and seamless service,” said Tom Edwards, Macy’s CFO and COO, in announcing the fulfillment center debut. “With this investment, we’re building a faster, more efficient and agile network designed to meet our customers’ needs today and in the future.”
Sean Barbour, senior vice president of supply chain operations, added, “Over the past two years, we’ve tested and learned from automation at other sites, refining how it can make our operations more efficient and our colleagues work safer and smarter. Now, we’re building on those lessons with our most advanced deployment yet, including the debut of a new warehouse management system that will provide greater accuracy, flexibility and speed. We’re proud to celebrate this milestone while continuing to modernize and strengthen our supply chain across the network.”
