The massive 900,000 square foot warehouse will combine skilled labor with an AI-driven machine learning program and automated order picking system.
Walmart plans to build a 900,000-square-foot next-generation fulfillment center in Stockton, California. The center is a giant warehouse that combines skilled labor, AI-driven machine learning programs, and an automated order-picking system to speed up the shipping of goods.
The facility, located at 150 Mariposa Road, is expected to open in 2026 and will be the fifth next-generation facility Walmart has opened in the U.S. to process online order fulfillment.
The Stockton fulfillment center will feature an automated high-density storage and retrieval system that reduces a manual 12-step process to five steps. The company says its patent-pending system combines human workers, robotics and machine learning.
Walmart partnered with Austria-based Knapp to develop the system. Knapp’s OSR Shuttle Evo is an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) for containers, cartons, and trays that can hold up to 110 pounds.
The retail giant says the AI-driven technology will double storage capacity and the number of customer orders it can fulfill per day, expanding its next-day and next-day online delivery.
By working with the giant distribution center and Walmart’s existing fulfillment network, retailers will be able to reach 95% of the U.S. population with next-day or two-day delivery, the company said.
In June 2022, Walmart announced that it was partnering with Nap, a company that builds automated order picking systems, to develop next-generation fulfillment centers. Walmart’s first next-generation distribution center opened in September 2022 in Joliet, Illinois. The facility is his 1.1 million square foot facility located at 3501 S. Brandon Road.
In June, the company opened its second Next Generation facility, a 2.2 million square foot fulfillment center in McCordsville, Indiana. The Indiana facility is located on 151 acres at 5259 West 500 North and is the largest Walmart fulfillment center in the United States.
The company is preparing to open its third Next Generation Center in Lancaster, Texas, and plans to open a fourth center in Greencastle, Pennsylvania next year.
The Stockton facility, located approximately 80 miles south of Sacramento, will employ more than 1,000 people and join Walmart’s growing distribution network in California, which includes eight distribution centers, four fulfillment centers and 309 retail stores. It turns out.
“Our high-tech fulfillment center in Stockton [is] “This is another significant step forward in our omnichannel retail journey,” Carisa Sprague, senior vice president of fulfillment network operations, said in the announcement.