Walmart has agreed to extend its commercial relationship with warehouse robotics supplier Symbiotic to automate another 25 regional distribution centres in the United States, FreightWaves reported. The retailer will initially invest about $6 billion over several years in equipment for moving cases across multiple sites, according to a joint company announcement cited by the outlet.
The expansion builds on a decade of Walmart’s use of Symbiotic products. Based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, the supplier develops warehouse automation and robotics powered by artificial intelligence. The additional installations will bring more automation to Walmart’s regional distribution network, with the retailer seeking to expand storage capacity and improve the movement of goods through its supply chain.
Walmart also intends the investment to support inventory management upstream of its e-commerce operations. According to FreightWaves, the planned capabilities are designed to help the company offer a wider product selection, move goods faster and replenish stock more reliably across its network. Those are the operational benefits envisaged for the programme, which combines equipment installation with an expansion of the companies’ existing commercial agreement.
Rob Montgomery, executive vice president for Walmart U.S. Supply Chain Operations, linked the spending to the retailer’s effort to reach more customers and members with more products at greater speed. He said investment in both physical and digital supply-chain operations supported shopping in stores, through kerbside collection and via home delivery. Montgomery described the expanded supplier relationship as a means of improving service, adding capacity, simplifying employees’ work and reducing costs.
Symbiotic’s technology range includes high-density automated storage and retrieval equipment, intelligent pallet-building systems and picking technology for partial-case fulfilment, FreightWaves reported. The agreement therefore extends a longstanding automation relationship as Walmart pursues greater distribution capacity and more dependable product flows across the channels through which it serves shoppers.