Walmart converting Atlanta hub to next-gen fulfillment center
Walmart is expanding its footprint of high-tech fulfillment centers featuring its proprietary supply chain automation system.
The discount giant is converting one of its Atlanta fulfillment centers into a dedicated facility supporting its growing Walmart Fulfillment Services business. Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is a fee-based program providing an array of services, including storing, picking, packing and shipping, along with the handling of returns and customer service and the Walmart Connect retail media platform, to retailers participating in the discounter’s third-party online U.S. marketplace.
To maximize the effectiveness of the facility, Walmart says it is making updates to meet WFS operational requirements, as well as enhancing training, processes, equipment and the building’s infrastructure, with the of having the building fully converted by early fall 2022.
Walmart recently opened a new next-gen fulfillment center in Joliet, Ill. It is the first of four high-tech centers dedicated to e-commerce that the retailer plans to open during the next three years. These investments in automation and innovation are intended to enable Walmart to flow products faster through its distribution and fulfillment network into stores.
According to Reuters, Walmart has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) stating it would eliminate 1,458 jobs https://www.chainstoreage.com/report-walmart-laying-1400-e-commerce-fulfillment-workers at the Atlanta supply chain facility, due to adjustments being made as it is converted to support WFS operations. The company said it is offering affected employees transition assistance, as well as placing some in other jobs within the organization.
Walmart automates supply chain
Walmart has been making concerted efforts to streamline its supply chain and automatically fill online orders from its stores. The company has been ramping up its supply chain infrastructure, from expanding its successful pilot of store-based, high-tech “local fulfillment centers” to applying artificial intelligence to the palletizing of products in its regional distribution centers. Recently, the discount giant said it will fulfill online orders placed on Walmart.com from a hub in Salt Lake City, scheduled to open in summer 2022.
The company also plans to build a high-tech distribution center for fresh and frozen groceries in Spartanburg County, S.C., as well as two high-tech supply chain hubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and a high-tech center in Lebanon, Tenn. where human associates, artificial intelligence (AI) software, and automated robots working together to ship orders to customers as efficiently as possible.
Most recently, Walmart agreed to acquire Alert Innovation, a robotics automation company that develops material-handling technology for automating order fulfillment in retail supply chains. Walmart has been working with Alert to customize technology for its market fulfillment centers (MFC), which are in-store automated warehouses that fulfill online from stores, since 2016.
Walmart said at the time it announced the Alert Innovation purchase that its investments in this technology will enable the company to leverage its store footprint – 4,700 stores located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population – for storage and fulfillment.
“This is an exciting time for our company to evaluate what we do, be nimble in how we do it and adapt in the places where needed,” said Karisa Sprague, senior VP, fulfilment center operations, Walmart U.S., in a corporate blog post. “This is one of those moments, and we look forward to what the future holds for the company and our customers.”
Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and clubs under 46 banners in 24 countries and e-commerce websites.