Supply Chain Council of European Union | Scceu.org
Warehousing

Walmart putting millions into automation at Menomonie DC

Mar. 25—MENOMONIE — Tucked behind a large plastic curtain at its Menomonie distribution center is new machinery Walmart will switch on later this year to bring a higher level of automation to how products go through the building and out to stores.

On Friday the company invited a group of employees, guests and media outlets to hear about the multi-million-dollar investment Walmart is making into the 29-year-old regional distribution center on 3M Drive.

“It’s not mom and dad’s distribution center anymore, it’s evolving,” said Marcea Weiss, general manager of the center that employs about 1,000 people.

The new robotic machinery is beginning to go into a section of the building and is scheduled to be ready to be turned on in November, Weiss said. There will then be a testing period before the new automation section is expected to start shipping out its first pallets to stores in spring 2023.

Walmart has been testing out the automation technology from Symbiotic in one of its distribution centers in Brooksville, Fla., since 2017, according to a corporate news release. Last year the company announced plans to implement the technology in 25 out of its 42 regional distribution centers.

Leaders at the local center were happy to hear their facility is among the first to get the upgrade.

“Menomonie is one of our first distribution centers to receive that,” Dale Deutsch, senior continuous improvement leader at Menomonie center, said Friday. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Friday’s presentation included a video showing how the state-of-the-art technology will improve efficiency at the distribution center.

Packages pass through a “super tunnel” — a sophisticated conveyor system that weighs, measures and scans barcodes on boxes. Data collected there helps the system decide where to route the package so it can get put on a pallet bound for a store.

When it comes to stacking boxes onto pallets, the automated system will use the data its collected to precisely arrange them for stability and group them by department.

Instead of semitrailers arriving at stores, being unloaded and their contents then sorted out by department, the work organizing the merchandise has already been done. The result is “store-friendly” pallets that can be brought right out to the sales floor to stock shelves faster.

JP Doyle, manager of the Walmart store in Menomonie, is excited for what the new automation means for workers that unload trucks and stock shelves.

“The biggest part of this is what it’s going to do on the other end — at stores,” he said Friday.

Doyle said that will cut down on some of the monotonous tasks done at Walmart stores so their team members can spend more time helping customers.

Automation technology isn’t taking over the entire regional distribution center yet. What was announced Friday is phase one, just going into one part of the building. Weiss said Walmart is planning future phases, gradually spreading the high-tech way of running a distribution center through more of the building.

Deutsch said the new robotic machinery will take over repetitive work currently done by people, and create jobs that require more problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

“It’s evolving our jobs into more advanced, robotics-based roles,” Weiss said.

Operating the new high-tech machinery will take training, but Weiss said the company has that covered through in-house training programs available to employees.

“We’ll train you on it,” she said.

Walmart is also reaching out to local students as well to let them know about potential careers in the upgraded distribution center.

Among Friday’s announcements was a $2,000 check presentation the company made to Chippewa Valley Technical College. When the new robotic machinery at the distribution center is installed, students from CVTC will be invited to come see it, Weiss said.

Menomonie Mayor Randy Knaack attended Friday’s ceremony on behalf of the city. He said Menomonie is “fortunate, lucky, privileged and honored” to have Walmart as a major employer there.

“Not only does Menomonie offer a lot to Walmart, Walmart offers a lot to Menomonie,” he said.

When Walmart’s transportation operations next to the center and the retailer’s store in the city are accounted for, the number of people employed by the company in Menomonie totals over 1,800, Knaack estimated.

And with the large investment — neither Walmart or Weiss disclosed a specific dollar amount — is making in upgrading the center in Menomonie, it is a sign the company intends to remain part of the community.

“It means we’re going to be here for the long haul,” Weiss said.

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