recently announced it will be opening several"next generation" facilities in the hopes of speeding up its order fulfillment. Robots, machines, and humans will be working together at these state-of-the-art centers to increase the chain's delivery efficiency across several states.
The retail giant plans to open four of these fulfillment centers totaling more than 1 million square feet of space. According to, the first one just opened this week in Joliet, Ill. and will speed up next- and two-day shipping orders in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The other three centers are slated for Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas within the next three years. Each facility is designed to distill a 12-step fulfillment process into five simple tasks, making deliveries faster."Customers continue to expect faster delivery times and we are excited to be able to meet those needs with these new high-tech facilities," says Karisa Sprague, Walmart's SVP of fulfillment network operations, in a statement.
With the addition of the Joliet facility, customers in the Midwest can expect 24- to 48-hour shipping. Once all four of the fulfillment centers open, 75% of the country will also receive that same quick shipping speed from Walmart, according toWalmart isn't the first to create a future-looking facility.