On Sept. 29, leaders from Walmart, government officials and community members celebrated the grand opening of its 1,100,00-square-foot next generation fulfillment center at 3501 S. Brandon Rd. in Joliet, Illinois.
Walmart’s fulfillment center stores millions of items that are picked, packed and shipped to customers. The facility also fulfills marketplace items shipped by Walmart Fulfillment Services, its end-to-end fulfillment service for third-party e-commerce sellers.
“As the first-of-its-kind for Walmart, our newly opened facility introduces an array of opportunities to our associates, including new tech-focused jobs. There’s never been a more exciting time to join Walmart Supply Chain,” said James Bright III, general manager.
“I look forward to seeing the positive impact this team of associates and the Joliet facility will have on not only the Northeast Illinois community and economy, but also for Walmart customers across the Midwest.”
The center will be the first of four next-gen fulfillment centers, announced earlier this year, that will feature a new patent-pending process powered by the combination of people, robotics and machine learning. This process will set a new precedent in fulfillment speed by streamlining a manual 12-step process to just five steps. Once completed, the four new fulfillment centers could provide 75 percent of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping.
“Customers continue to expect faster delivery times and we are excited to be able to meet those needs with these new high-tech facilities,” said Karisa Sprague, SVP of fulfillment network operations, Walmart U.S.
“The addition of the Joliet next generation FC, paired with our 31 dedicated e-commerce fulfillment centers, will allow Walmart to fulfill online orders for Walmart.com and Walmart+ customers with greater shipping speed in the mid-west region. And, with the holidays around the corner, we’re excited to provide a more seamless experience for our customers.”
During the grand opening ceremony, Walmart presented two $15,000 donations to local nonprofits, SOS Children’s Villages Illinois and the Spanish Community Center. Since 2015, the company and its foundation have averaged more than $1 billion in annual donations each year to a variety of local causes and organizations.
“We are very grateful to Walmart for supporting our community and our New Americans Initiative Program,” said Sylvia Acosta, acting executive director. “Their investment in local communities helps us provide ESL and citizenship instruction for recent immigrants hoping to receive their citizenship”
For more information, visit corporate.walmart.com.
