Walmart opens second high-tech distribution center to speed up order delivery

Walmart will open a 2.2 million square foot distribution center in McCordsville, Indianapolis, according to foreign media reports. This facility is Walmart's largest distribution center to date and will help the retail giant deliver more online orders.

At the same time, this facility is the second of four high-tech distribution centers that Walmart plans to open this year. It combines human resources, technology and machine learning to achieve faster shipping and delivery while improving the delivery capacity of online orders.

The new facility is designed to expand the scope of next-day or two-day delivery services, and the company aims to cover 95% of the U.S. population. In addition, Walmart's WFS (Walmart Fulfillment Services) service for third-party sellers will also use this space to store goods.

The McCordsville distribution center will provide more than 1,000 jobs for today's residents, and Walmart is actively hiring for a variety of positions, including those focused on technology.

The high-tech distribution center has an automated, high-density storage system that can double the number of customer orders Walmart completes each day. The system was developed in cooperation with automation technology supplier Knapp, simplifying the previously complex human-performed process into the following five steps: unloading → receiving → picking → packing → shipping.

“The opening of McCordsville marks a new milestone in our journey toward supply chain modernization,” said Karisa Sprague, senior vice president of Walmart U.S. fulfillment network operations. “As more customers shop online, we’re leveraging state-of-the-art technology to increase delivery speeds while creating technology-enabled career opportunities for our associates.”

Walmart has been increasing its investment in Indiana. In fiscal 2022 alone, the company served Indiana customers through 127 stores and the Walmart.com website.

As a major employer in Indiana, Walmart currently employs more than 43,000 employees in the state. The retail giant also actively supports local businesses. In fiscal 2023, it invested $1.1 billion in Indiana suppliers and created jobs for 33,373 suppliers.

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