Walmart opens new high-tech perishable distribution center

Walmart continues to follow its grocery transformation plan.

The discount giant has opened a new 730,000-sq.-ft. perishable distribution center (PDC) in Lancaster, Tex., 15 miles south of Dallas. The new facility receives and processes fresh produce, eggs, dairy, flowers and frozen goods for delivery to nearby Walmart stores. 

The new PDC is Walmart’s second Lancaster-based supply chain facility, following the next generation fulfillment center that opened there in 2023. PDCs are part of the retailer’s supply chain transformation strategy designed to keep its more than 4,600 stores stocked with fresh and frozen merchandise.

[READ MORE: Walmart transforms grocery operations with high-tech fulfillment]

The Lancaster facility is also Walmart’s second of five new high-tech perishable distribution centers. The first hub in Shafter, Calif. has been operational since 2021.

According to Walmart, its high-tech distribution centers can store double the number of cases and process more than twice the volume of a traditional perishable facility, more than doubling the number of cases processed per hour. 

Here’s how the technology works:

• As cases come in from farmers and suppliers, they are inspected for quality and de-palletized.
• The cases are then stored in a nearly 80-foot-tall automated storage system which operates in a temperature-controlled environment.
• When it’s time to build a store order, the system retrieves the cases from storage to begin building store-ready pallets, which are built by department to make them easier to unload at the store.
• Pallets, which store more fragile items like eggs or fruit toward the top, are then wrapped and loaded onto a truck for shipping.