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Walmart Ready to Create Automated Local Fulfillment Centers

The company is set to implement a new way to provide the speed and convenience of pickup and delivery customers want.

Walmart Pic

Walmart has announced dozens of its sites will soon serve not only as stores but as local fulfillment centers as well. Built within or added to a store, each of the centers is a compact, modular warehouse that can store thousands of items.

Automated bots will retrieve items from within the fulfillment center and take them to a picking workstation. A “personal shopper” will handpick fresh items, such as produce, meat, and seafood, and large general merchandise from the sales floor. Then, all the items making up the order will be assembled at the picking workstation. The entire process can take as little as a few minutes from the time the order is placed to the time it’s ready for a customer or delivery driver to pick up. (Some stores will have automated pickup points, which allow customers and delivery drivers to drive up, scan a code, get their order, and go.)

Annual Outlook Report: Workforce
Hiring remains a major challenge in packaging, with 78% struggling to fill unskilled roles and 84% lacking experienced workers. As automation grows, companies must rethink hiring and training. Download the full report for key insights.
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Annual Outlook Report: Workforce
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