Walmart continues to use emerging technology in support of key initiatives, including automation and employee development.
Whether its automated forklifts or clean power generation, Walmart has been increasingly aggressive in applying technological solutions to challenges it identifies as important to the company and its customers.
In a blog post, Maurice Gray, general manager of Walmart Distribution Center 6020, in Brooksville, FL, described how Walmart has pioneered new technology in the facility He noted that DC 6020 was Walmart’s first high-tech distribution facility. and that how innovation is again afoot at the facility. The location has been testing a new autonomous forklift system to help employees develop fresh skills while improving business practices.
A 16-month proof of concept at the facility lead to Walmart to roll out 19 autonomous forklifts across four high-tech DCs, with the potential for more as the company evaluates benefits to employees and operations. At DC 6020, the test demonstrated the relationship between employees and automated systems can be one of constant progress and higher output, Gray stated.
The hardware involved, the Foxbot autonomous forklift, automates the warehouse loading dock. The autonomous forklift is working to the extent that Walmart invested growth capital for a minority stake in the company. The investment, Gray noted, represents a multi-year commitment to the Foxbot and its technology.
Gray pointed out trucks arrive at the DC, and employee operators set up the forklifts to carry out instructions to complete the task at hand. Then, using AI-powered machine vision and dynamic planning, the forklifts safely and accurately unload pallets and ferry them to be inducted into the automated storage and retrieval system, where they are cataloged and stored. With the automated forklifts, employees who used to unload the pallets manually act as conductors in considering the most efficient ways to unload trailers based on their own experiences. The autonomous forklift program falls into Walmart’s drive to upskill and empower employees, in this case to take a more considered role in DC operations by managing a robotics system as it continues to pursue technology as a means to improve functions throughout the company, Gray said.
