Walmart is now relying on high-speed robots

Walmart is now relying on high-speed robots

New York, 7/29/2021

Walmart has partnered with Symbotic to deploy its robotic technology in 25 Walmart regional distribution centers.

Symbotic’s automation system relies on high-speed robots to load pallets and store, sort and retrieve items in warehouses.

The rollout at 25 of Walmart’s 42 distribution centers is expected to take „several years.“

Walmart and Symbotic previously conducted a trial at the retailer’s Brooksville, Florida, distribution center.

In February, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon had announced that the company planned to spend nearly $14 billion in fiscal 2022 to improve supply chain automation and operations.

Walmart ended its first trial with Bossa Nova Robotics in November. The reason: scanning inventory by robots apparently did not produce better results than those by humans.

Walmart had announced plans to deploy the automated shelf-scanning robots in more than 1,000 stores. However, the project was cancelled after deployment in only ~500 stores.