Cutter & Buck opened a new distribution center in Grand Prairie, Texas, on October 9, built around a second AutoStore goods-to-person system designed and integrated by Kardex. The apparel company used years of operating data from its first AutoStore site in Renton, Washington, to shape the Texas facility, rather than copying the original design.

"The opening of this facility represents much more than additional capacity—it reflects how Cutter & Buck is preparing our distribution network for the next stage of growth," said Joel Freet, CEO of Cutter & Buck. "Our experience in Renton gave us a clear understanding of what automation can make possible for our operation and our customers. With Kardex, we’ve been able to take what we've learned and apply it to a new facility designed around where our business is going next."

What's Inside the Texas System

The Grand Prairie system includes:

• 50,502 storage bins
• 32 AutoStore R5 Pro robots
• 13 ports
• Kardex FulfillX warehouse execution software, which orchestrates AutoStore operations and coordinates fulfillment workflows

The system was designed for a target of 1,256 bin presentations per hour. AutoStore's simulation averaged 1,284 bin presentations per hour, about 2% above target. Those are design and simulation figures; the companies have not released measured performance from the new site. Robots and ports can be added independently as demand changes.

Kardex also built a conveyor system that connects AutoStore output to downstream processes, including embroidery, routing, print & apply, and shipping. This is an important convenience for Cutter & Buck as the company ships both blank and decorated apparel, so many orders need a value-added step, such as embroidery, between picking and shipping.

"What makes Texas exciting is that we weren’t starting from assumptions," said Scott Sumpter, executive director of distribution, enhancement and logistics at Cutter & Buck. "We had years of experience operating AutoStore in Renton, WA, and a much better understanding of how the system supports our people, our processes, and our customers. That experience allowed us to work with Kardex to take what we had learned, build on what worked, and design the Texas facility around what we’ll need as the business continues to grow."

How the Renton Site Set the Template

The Renton system went live in July 2023 with more than 34,000 storage bins, 54 robots, and Kardex FulfillX. It was designed to maximize storage within the existing building, improve efficiency, accuracy, and order throughput, and reduce reliance on seasonal labor.

As the company added SKUs, it expanded the Renton grid with 9,962 more bins, additional ports, and infrastructure to support higher throughput.

Compared with Renton's original installation, the Texas grid holds nearly 50% more bins with about 40% fewer robots.

"What makes this milestone particularly meaningful is everything that led to it," said Fred Fox Jr., president of Kardex AS Solutions Americas. "We started by working with Cutter & Buck to solve a specific fulfillment challenge in Renton. As their business grew, we expanded that system together. Now we're taking years of shared experience and applying it to an entirely new operation in Texas. That's what a strategic automation partnership should look like—continuing to evolve the solution as the customer’s business evolves."

For operations leaders who plan to automate in phases, the project shows one path: start with a single site, expand it as SKU counts grow, then apply that operating data to the next build.