BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Bentonville-based retailer Walmart announced on July 10 its plan to build five new distribution centers that rely on automation technology in an effort to stock shelves quicker.
The company said in the announcement that these automated facilities can double the number of cases processed per hour than a traditional distribution center.
Walmart claims that although manually stacking cases isn't a human's job at these facilities, those associates may now work as automation experts, automation technicians, or automation area managers. The announcement goes on to say that these workers who have transitioned into the new roles "tell us they are more enjoyable and satisfying, while also often resulting in higher base pay."
One of the five "high-tech" distribution centers has already been built and has been functional since 2021 in Shafter, California. In Lancaster, Texas, the second automated distribution center is "ramping operations," Walmart said, with the other three automated distribution centers being built in Wellford, South Carolina; Belvidere, Illinois; and Pilesgrove, New Jersey.
Among Walmart's plans to build more of these advanced facilities are efforts to expand four traditional DCs. Across four of those traditional facilities, Walmart says they are adding over 500,000 square feet of automation technology to each location. Those facilities are Mankato, Minnesota; Mebane, North Carolina; Garrett, Indiana; and Shelbyville, Tennessee.
In a process different from building a brand new automated facility or adding automation to a pre-existing facility, Walmart is planning a strategy they call "retrofitting."
Walmart said they plan on completely upgrading their Winter Haven, Florida traditional facility and integrating the technology into the space.
With retrofitting the Winter Haven facility, Walmart said its goal is to "learn more about the feasibility and requirements of retrofitting an existing grocery building with automation technology."
Walmart explained the new machine-led process begins with products being taken in from suppliers and then put in an automated storage system in a temperature-controlled environment, and then the system puts together pallets for stores built by the department. "These intelligently layered pallets – with more fragile items, like eggs or fruit, toward the top – are then wrapped and loaded onto a truck for shipping," Walmart said in the announcement.
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