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Walmart on Friday provided new details about the massive new fulfillment center it is building in McCordsville.
IBJ initially reported on the retail giant’s plans for the 2.2 million-square-foot distribution hub in June 2020, but the company has been quiet about the project until now.
Walmart announced Friday that the Hancock County facility will be one of four next-generation fulfillment centers it is adding to its existing capacity over the next three years, a move that will make next- or two-day shipping from the retailer available to most Americans.
The McCordsville center at 5259 W. 500 N. is expected to open in spring 2023 and have more than 1,000 employees. Walmart will be hiring for a variety of positions at the facility, including new tech-focused jobs like control technicians, quality audit analysts and flow managers.
IBJ previously reported the facility would be built on about 204 acres in an unincorporated part of the county north of Mount Comfort and south of McCordsville. The center is expected to feature 146 docks and parking for 1,985 cars and up to 916 trailers, according to public filings.
Walmart said the center will fill online orders for Walmart customers in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.
“Our new next-generation fulfillment center is a first-of-its-kind for Walmart that will transform the way we ship online orders to customers,” said David Guggina, senior vice president, automation, and innovation at Walmart, in written remarks. “Through our automated storage system and patent-pending five step process, we’ll not only provide increased comfort for associates but also double the storage capacity and double the number of customer orders we’re able to fulfill in a day.”
Walmart said its first next-generation fulfillment center will open this summer in Joliet, Illinois, 45 miles southeast of Chicago. A third one is expected to open in Lancaster, Texas, in fall 2023, followed by a fourth in 2024 in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.
The announcement comes at a time when consumers are relying on packages being shipped to their homes more than ever before. While online ordering has continued to increase over the years, the pandemic saw a huge surge in such orders as Americans stayed home during lockdowns and had essential items and other goods delivered to their doors. While coronavirus restrictions have eased, many consumers’ online ordering habits remain.
Aside from a growth in online orders, Walmart and other retailers are trying to make sure that their shipping speed keeps pace with rival Amazon, which offers same-day, one-day and two-day delivery options for those who pay for its Prime membership.
Walmart said its next-generation fulfillment centers will feature robotics and machine learning, and double the capacity and number of orders allowed to be fulfilled in a day. The four fulfillment centers will be able to provide 75% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping on millions of items, including Marketplace items shipped by Walmart fulfillment services.
When combined with its traditional fulfillment centers, Walmart said it can reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping. The company can offer same-day delivery to 80% of the U.S. population when using the inventory and capabilities available at its stores.
Walmart currently has 31 dedicated eCommerce fulfillment centers, 4,700 stores and 210 distribution centers.
In mid-March, fire destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot Walmart fulfillment center in Plainfield. Walmart announced in late April that it would not be reopening the facility. At the time, 957 of the 2,089 people who were employed at the facility had accepted new jobs with the company.
Fact sheet: Walmart next-generation fulfillment centers
ACCESSIBILITY
• The four new centers alone could provide 75% of the U.S. with next- or two-days hipping on millions of items. Combined with traditional fulfillment centers, Walmart will reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping.
SPEED
• Patent-pending fulfillment system transforms a manual, 12-step process down to just five steps, resulting in double the storage capacity, and double the number of customer orders its is able to fulfill in a day with fewer workers.
COMFORT
• Automated system provides increased comfort for Walmart associates–removing the need to walk up to 9 miles per day picking items from multiple floors of shelving spread out over hundreds of thousands of square feet of space.
JOBS
• The four new centers will collectively create more than 4,000 new supply-chain jobs, such as control technicians, quality
audit analysts and flow managers.
Source: Walmart
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Was any corporate welfare required to land the facility?
I don’t think they were “quite” about this. We already knew they were building a MASSIVE facility. Easy to assume a good number jobs would be created.
So they needed to burn down an older obsolete one and unemploy 1100 workers before marking this one as all-in?