Walmart has agreed to acquire Alert Innovation, a robotics automation company that develops technology related to material handling with the intent of automating order fulfillment. The partnership will help evolve the company’s supply chain and market fulfillment centers, according to a blog post from SVP of Innovation and Automation, David Guggina.
“Walmart has been working with Alert to customize technology for our MFCs [market fulfillment centers] since 2016. Further investing in this technology will enable us to leverage our store footprint–4,700 stores located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population–for storage and fulfillment,” Guggina writes. “For customers, this means orders can be fulfilled quickly and conveniently through pickup and delivery, giving them the items they want, when and where they want them.”
Additionally, Alert’s system helps to streamline processes for store associates.
The collaboration between the two companies began in 2019 at a fulfillment center in Salem, New Hampshire. The pilot technology implemented fully autonomous bots to retrieve and dispense orders by moving across temperature zones without the need for lifts or conveyor belts.
The company plans to use Alert’s technology to modernize supply chain operations through continued investments in robotics and automation both in stores and in distribution and fulfillment centers. Full Story
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