Retail giant Walmart has ordered a third automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) from automation provider Swisslog for its milk handling supply chain, saying the facility in Robinson, Texas, will open in 2026.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
But the news follows a 2023 deal for Walmart to install a Swisslog automation solution in its Valdosta, Georgia, milk processing facility that is scheduled to begin operations in 2025. And Walmart bought a another system from Swisslog for a milk processing facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that opened in 2018.
The latest installation will serve more than 750 Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs throughout the South including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and parts of Arkansas and Mississippi.
It brings together five Vectura pallet stacker cranes with KUKA palletizing and de-palletizing robots, a ProMove pallet conveyor system, as well as a conveyor system for small loads. The automation solution operates on synchronized intelligence from Swisslog’s SynQ software, which provides warehouse management, material flow and automation control system functionality in a single, modular platform.
“We are honored that Walmart continues to put their trust in our automation solutions and our people behind those solutions,” Sean Wallingford, president and CEO of Swisslog Americas, said in a release. “This has been a very collaborative relationship as our two teams work together to create value for Walmart and ensure our automation solutions and software enable the company and its farmers to bring fresh, transparently sourced dairy to market.”
Gartner, Inc.