MonarchFx to handle Lego logistics for latest client

Logistics service provider MonarchFx is getting into the toy business, announcing today that it will distribute Lego building blocks for its client ToyHouse LLC, just in time for the holiday season.

MonarchFx's first outbound shipments for its latest client are expected to commence in December, as the Raleigh, N.C.-based company continues its march toward offering nationwide fulfillment services by leading a team of logistics industry partners and operating a network of automated DCs.

The announcement is MonarchFx's latest move since earlier this month it expanded its food and beverage division with an executive hire in an effort to wade deeper into the fast-changing grocery sector by offering direct-to-consumer fulfillment services.

Also in November, MonarchFx said it was expanding into the health sector, hiring an executive to lead the new unit and offer services for the health industry supply chain, Jim Tompkins, the founder of supply chain consulting firm Tompkins International who launched MonarchFx in 2016, said in a statement.

Tompkins launched MonarchFx to provide distributed logistics e-commerce fulfillment centers throughout the country, allowing clients to offer two-day, next-day, and same-day delivery to consumers, and compete with Amazon.com Inc. without building their own networks.

As the exclusive distributor for Lego Systems Inc. in the U.S., ToyHouse LLC needs that level of fulfillment service in order to partner with the small independent and specialty retailers who sell Lego toys, the company said in a statement.

"We will use our highly integrated network of people, technology, and physical assets to help ToyHouse LLC manage their goods more efficiently throughout their supply chains," MonarchFx CEO Jim Tompkins said in a statement. Those services will help ToyHouse to achieve cost and risk reductions, process efficiencies, technological innovations, and responsive customer service, he said.