Stockton Lands Walmart's Fifth Next-Gen Fulfillment Center
The 900,000-square-foot mega-warehouse will combine skilled workers with AI-driven machine learning programs and automated order-picking systems.
Walmart is planning to build a 900,000-square-foot next-generation fulfillment center in Stockton, CA, a mega-warehouse that combines skilled workers with AI-driven machine learning programs and automated order-picking systems that speeds the shipments of good.
The facility, which will be located at 150 Mariposa Road and is expected to open in 2026, will be the fifth next-gen facility that Walmart is opening in the U.S. to process the fulfillment of online orders.
The fulfillment center in Stockton will have an automated, high-density storage and retrieval system that cuts a manual 12-step process down to five steps. The patent-pending system combines human workers, robotics and machine learning, according to the company.
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 holding up to 110 pounds.
According to the retail giant, the AI-driven technology doubles the storage capacity and the number of customer orders that can be fulfilled in a day, expanding the company’s next-day and two-day online shipping.
The mega-distribution centers, in tandem with Walmart’s existing fulfillment network, will enable the retailer to reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping, the company said.
Walmart announced in June 2022 that it was developing next-generation fulfillment centers in a partnership with Knapp, which builds automated order-picking systems. Walmart’s first next-gen distribution center opened in Joliet, IL, in September 2022, a 1.1 million-square-foot facility located at 3501 S. Brandon Road.
The company opened its second next-gen facility in June, a 2.2 million-square-foot fulfillment center in McCordsville, IN. The Indiana facility, located on a 151-acre site at 5259 W. 500 N, is the largest Walmart fulfillment center in the US.
The retailer is preparing to open a third next-gen center in Lancaster, TX and it plans to open a fourth next year in Greencastle, PA.
The Stockton facility, about 50 miles south of Sacramento, will employ more than 1,000 workers, joining a growing Walmart distribution network in California that includes eight distribution centers, four fulfillment centers and 309 retail stores.
“Our high-tech fulfillment center in Stockton [is] another significant stride in our omnichannel retail efforts,” Karisa Sprague, senior vice president of fulfillment network operations, said in an announcement.