Walmart recently announced the construction of a new high-tech perishable distribution center in Pilesgrove. The 700,000-square-foot facility will begin operations in 2027, bringing approximately 400 local jobs to the region.
This will be the fifth high-tech PDC for the company and part of a broader grocery network transformation the retail and grocery giant has invested in, from data, intelligent software and automation — all to transform the business and create a more connected supply chain.
Walmart said adding the state-of-the-art tech to its facilities enable greater speed and capacity that allows it to serve customers even more reliably. For example, these high-tech DCs can store double the number of cases and process more than twice the volume of a traditional perishable DC, more than doubling the number of cases processed per hour.
Here’s how the technology works:
- As cases come in from farmers and suppliers, they’re inspected for quality and de-palletized;
- The cases are then stored in an automated storage system that stretches nearly 80 feet tall and operates in a temperature-controlled environment;
- When it’s time to build a store order, the system retrieves the cases from storage to begin building store-ready pallets, which are built by department, making them easier to unload at the store; and
- These intelligently layered pallets — with more fragile items, like eggs or fruit, toward the top — are then wrapped and loaded onto a truck for shipping.
Walmart is excited about what this technology will do for its business, but, more than that, it is excited about the opportunities it will create for associates. Technology is evolving physically demanding jobs into roles where associates are operating and maintaining high-tech systems, leading to an improved quality of life.
Walmart’s investment in technology and high-tech distribution centers provide a platform for career growth opportunities. The facility will offer associates the opportunity to build skills that reflect the modern era of retail, creating new opportunities for career development and growth.
