Walmart opens third high-tech consolidation center
Walmart is expanding its high-tech consolidation center concept.
Located in Minooka, Ill., the 492,000-sq.-ft. facility is the third of its kind in Walmart’s supply chain. The first, located in Colton, Calif., opened in 2019. The second opened in 2022, in Lebanon, Penn.
The new center is expected to bring nearly 700 additional jobs to the area. Once implemented, the facility’s automated technology can enable three times more volume to flow throughout the center and help enable Walmart to deliver the right product to the right store, the company said.
Walmart consolidation centers have a specialized role in moving products quickly to store shelves. Each has the ability to receive general merchandise items from suppliers in smaller freight loads, known as less than a truckload (LTL), and consolidate them into larger freight loads, known as full truckloads (TL).
Then, the product is shipped to regional distribution centers where it is sorted for distribution to stores. This enables suppliers to deliver merchandise to one singular location for consolidation, instead of shipping separate orders for each of the 42 regional distribution centers.
"We’ve made continued investments in our people, facilities and technology to ensure we have the right product, in the right place, at the right time," said Mike Gray, senior VP of ambient operations at Walmart. “As part of these investments, the Minooka facility will provide even more opportunities for small to medium sized suppliers in the region who do not ship nationwide, the ability to provide product to all 4,700 Walmart stores."
"It’s an exciting time to join our third high-tech consolidation center in Minooka," said James White, GM of the new consolidation center. "The new facility provides a new slate of jobs in the region, in addition to providing training and development opportunities that help associates grow their careers for years to come."
Walmart automates supply chain
Walmart is taking a multi-faceted approach to supply chain automation. At the kickoff of its two-day 2023 Investment Community meeting, Walmart unveiled a plan for what the discount titan said is "a new more connected and automated supply chain which will improve the experience for customers and associates and simultaneously increase productivity."
Over half of Walmart’s fulfillment centers could be automated within three years. This effort includes a next-gen fulfillment center model it launched in 2022. The centers feature an automated, high-density storage system that, among other benefits, allow the retail giant to double the number of customer orders it can fulfill in a day.
The discounter currently operates a 1.1 million-sq.-ft. high-tech facility in Joliet, Ill., and plans to open three more in the U.S. during the next three years to store millions of items available on Walmart.com that are then picked, packed and shipped directly to customers. It also recently began piloting the model in Canada.
In addition, Walmart is extending an existing agreement with artificial intelligence (AI)-based supply chain technology company Symbiotic LLC to implement Symbotic’s robotics and software automation platform in all 42 of its regional distribution centers over the coming years.
Other efforts to automate supply chain operations include a current rollout of autonomous forklifts across four high-tech distribution centers. The forklifts will help to further streamline Walmart’s high-tech order fulfillment system.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.