Walmart selects Dallas-Fort Worth area for two new automated supply chain facilities

Today, Walmart announced plans to build two new high-tech facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to support its growing supply chain network: a 1,500,000 square-foot automated fulfillment center, set to open in 2023, and a 730,000 sq. ft. automated grocery distribution center, set to open in 2024. These facilities will be among the retailer’s largest automated fulfillment and distribution centers.

The new Lancaster-based facilities will create approximately 1,000 full-time jobs across the region, according to Walmart, with 40 percent of the new jobs created requiring STEM skills to support technical positions. Walmart added that the facilities will play a critical role in its promise to get customers the items they want when they want them. Through the combination of Walmart associates and automation technology, the high-tech facilities will move more than two times the volume of a traditional fulfillment and grocery distribution center, the announcement explained.

“Walmart is excited to welcome two new high-tech facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to our expanding supply chain network,” said Joe Metzger executive vice president, supply chain operations at Walmart U.S. “These high-tech facilities will include game-changing innovations that are radically disrupting the supply chain, getting products onto store shelves and items shipped to our customers even faster, while saving time for our associates.”

“We are making a significant investment in this region because of the inclusive, diverse and qualified pipeline of local talent that reflect Walmart’s values,” added Karissa Sprague, SVP of supply chain human resources at Walmart U.S. “Our investment in technologies and high-tech facilities today pave the way for jobs of the future that are supported by automation and will allow opportunities for an upskilled workforce.”

Walmart’s high-tech facilities are part of a larger investment the retailer announced earlier this year to double down on the use of automation technology in its supply chain. It comes just months after the retailer announced its plans to add automation in more than half of its regional distribution centers and automated market fulfillment centers in select stores. The retailer has also made investments in drones and autonomous vehicles to support last mile deliveries.

“I, along with my colleagues on the Lancaster City Council, are excited to be working with Walmart as they construct two facilities simultaneously within our community. We look forward to this project bringing more than 1,000 new jobs and helping boost our local economy with an increased daily population. This is a true example of my philosophy that “Positive, progressive partnerships, produce prosperity for all. ‘Working together in a collaborative atmosphere always benefits the whole,” said Clyde C. Hairston, Mayor of the City of Lancaster.