As they continue to upgrade their capabilities, Amazon and Walmart announced the addition of new distribution facilities, although of different varieties, to improve the moment goods to consumers.
Next-generation facilities, as the company designates them, operate with skilled associates backed by technology and machine learning to provide faster shipping and delivery while increasing fulfillment capacity for Walmart.com orders. They feature an automated, high-density storage and retrieval system that streamlines a manual, 12-step process down to only five steps, the company noted. In practice, next-generation fulfillment centers can double the storage capacity and the number of orders processed per day as compared to a typical Walmart FC, which expands the company’s ability to give customers a next- or two-day shipping option. Combined with the rest of the Walmart fulfillment network, next-generation fulfillment centers such as the Stockton facility will enable the retailer to reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping. Walmart Fulfillment Services, the company’s third-party fulfillment service, will also leverage the space to deliver marketplace orders.
For its part, Amazon is operating two new state-of-the-art delivery stations in Connecticut, with both coming online ahead of the busy holiday season, the company stated. A 105,000-square-foot facility on National Drive in Glastonbury opened on August 30, while a 180,000-square-foot facility on Ellington Road in South Windsor launched on September 27.
Amazon ships products to delivery stations from neighboring Amazon Fulfillment and Sortation Centers, where they are loaded into delivery vehicles and dropped off with customers.
