MonarchFx partners with NFI to build first DC

Logistics service provider MonarchFx said today it had chosen a California location for the first in a series of distribution centers it plans to build around the country, and would construct the facility through a partnership with third-party logistics provider (3PL) NFI Industries.

Raleigh, N.C.-based MonarchFx will build the highly automated DC at an NFI site in Chino, Calif., marking the first facility in the firm's plan to build five DCs in time to start shipping products for e-commerce clients for the 2018 holiday peak season.

The company did not disclose the date the facility would begin operations, but said it was part of a plan to open five locations around the U.S. within the next six months. The other sites are planned for northern New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta.

MonarchFx was launched in 2016 by the supply chain consulting firm Tompkins International, which has compiled an alliance of 3PL providers, software developers, and shippers in a bid to capture a share of the e-commerce fulfillment market for nationwide same-day, next-day, and two-day delivery.

The firm announced in November 2017 that it had landed sufficient outside funding to build a network of automated DCs it calls "Rapid Deployment MonarchFx Centers" (RDMCs), each constructed within a facility run by one of MonarchFx's 3PL partners and featuring products and services from its technology partners. Other companies in the alliance include DHL Supply Chain, Kenco Logistics, Softeon, and JDA Software Group Inc.

The Chino location will be embedded within an existing NFI campus, and will feature automated material handling equipment from Tompkins Robotics, an internet of things (IoT) platform from SensorThink, logistics software from Softeon, and the Tompkins Warehouse Execution System, the company said.

The facility will be capable of providing 19 million consumers with same day delivery, 22 million consumers with one-day delivery, and 51 million consumers with two-day delivery, according to MonarchFx.