Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Walmart supports 3PL services with largest fulfillment center to date

Indianapolis site is second of four planned “next generation” facilities to support fulfillment services network as well as Walmart e-commerce

walmart New_Facility_Exterior_Walmart_McCordsville%2C_IN_FC.jpg

Retail giant Walmart on Thursday opened the second of four planned “next generation fulfillment centers” that will achieve faster shipping and delivery times by aligning people, technology, and machine learning, the company said.

The McCordsville fulfillment center is a 2.2 million-square-foot facility located some 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis. As well as increasing order fulfillment capacity for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company to sell its own goods on Walmart.com, the site will also allow the company to expand its third party logistics (3PL) practices.


As the company’s largest fulfillment center to date, the building will support Walmart’s end-to-end third-party fulfillment business, known as Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), and will provide space to fulfill goods sold on Walmart Marketplace, the company’s e-commerce platform.

Walmart did not disclose exactly which logistics technologies it had installed in the new facility, but last year it said that its next generation fulfillment centers would run on automation and robotics from Knapp, Symbotic, and Witron.

When all four next generation fulfillment centers are online, Walmart says they will combine with the rest of its fulfillment network to enable the retailer to reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping.

“The McCordsville grand opening marks a major milestone in our supply chain modernization journey,” Karisa Sprague, senior vice president, Fulfillment Network Operations for Walmart U.S., said in a release. “With more customers shopping online, we’re leverage state-of-the-art technology to increase speed of delivery all while creating tech-empowered career opportunities for our associates.” 

According to Walmart, the modern scope of its “next generation” facilities will support more diverse career paths than traditional warehouse work descriptions. The company says it is currently hiring for tech-focused jobs as it ramps up to hire more than 1,000 Walmart associates to staff the McCordsville site.

 

 

 

The Latest

More Stories

Boston Dynamics’ autonomous mobile robot “Spot”
Photo courtesy of Boston Dynamics

“Spotting” issues and staying ahead of the curve

Tire manufacturer Michelin has long used predictive maintenance tools to head off equipment failures, but the company recently upped its game by implementing cutting-edge robotics at its factory in Lexington, South Carolina. Managers there are using Boston Dynamics’ autonomous mobile robot (AMR) “Spot” to speed and streamline the inspection and maintenance processes—a move that is boosting productivity at the Lexington facility and for the company at large.

“Getting ahead of equipment failures is important, because it affects our production output,” Ryan Burns, an associate in the facility’s reliability and methods department, said in a case study describing the project. “If we can predict a failure and we can plan and schedule the work to fix the issue before it becomes an unplanned breakdown, then we’re able to increase our output as a company and a tire producer.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

containers and ships at port

AAFA urges ILA and USMX to resolve dockworker contract feud

As another potential strike looms at East and Gulf coast ports, nervous retailers are calling on dockworkers union the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) to reach an agreement with port management group the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) before their current labor contract expires on January 15.

The latest call for a quick solution came from the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), which cheered President-elect Donald Trump for his published comments yesterday indicating that he supports the 45,000 dockworkers’ opposition to increased automation for handling shipping containers.

Keep ReadingShow less
diagram of software from logility

Logility said to be seeking corporate buyers

The Atlanta-based supply chain software vendor Logility is declining to comment about reports that the company might be sold, following a call from certain shareholders to take the company private.

Logility Supply Chain Solutions Inc., which was known as American Software Inc. until October 1 this year, says it delivers prescriptive demand, inventory, manufacturing, and supply planning tools. That tech helps to provide executives the confidence and control to increase margins and service levels, while delivering sustainable supply chains, the company says.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dasher the reindeer in the snow

Lessons from the ultimate last-mile delivery expert: interview with Dasher the reindeer

2024 has been quite a year. In addition to the usual challenges, supply chain leaders have had to contend with two major wars, several devastating hurricanes and storms, dock strikes, a rail strike, a freight recession, an uneven economy, and an election cycle unlike any other. That’s a lot packed into one year.

We can all use a chance to catch our breath. As the holidays approach, we at DC Velocity thought it would be fun to take a more whimsical approach to this month’s ThoughtLeader Q&A and interview Dasher the reindeer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Amazon delivery driver sorting packages in van
Photo courtesy of Amazon

“Smart” vans speed package delivery

Amazon package deliveries are about to get a little bit faster—thanks to specially outfitted delivery vans and the magic of AI.

Last month, the mega-retailer introduced its Vision-Assisted Package Retrieval (VAPR)solution, an AI (artificial intelligence)-powered system designed to cut the time it takes drivers to retrieve packages from the back of the van.

Keep ReadingShow less