Opened in October 2019, the Safeway South San Francisco micro-fulfillment center (pictured in this photo gallery) was the first to go live under Albertsons Cos.’ partnership with Takeoff Technologies.
Albertsons Cos.
The MFCs typically run around 10,000 square feet and hold 15,000 to 18,000 of the local market’s most popular products.
Albertsons Cos.
Albertsons noted that the facilities combine the proximity of brick-and-mortar stores with the productivity of a large automated warehouse.
Albertsons Cos.
Takeoff said its artificial intelligence-enabled robots can assemble grocery orders of up to 60 items in less than five minutes, a fraction of the speed and cost of manual-picking systems.
Albertsons Cos.
The robotics, which Takeoff sources from automated warehouse solution provider Knapp, can pick about 800 items per hour and process 3,500 online grocery orders weekly per location for a two-hour service.
Albertsons Cos.
Albertsons has a series of pilots with Takeoff in the works, with future MFCs possibly including a stand-alone facility serving a cluster of local stores.