Walmart opens new high-tech food distribution center in Lancaster

LANCASTER, Texas - Walmart's new perishable food distribution center is now open in Lancaster.

The 750,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, located 15 miles south of Dallas, receives and processes fresh produce like eggs, dairy, flowers and frozen goods for delivery to nearby Walmart stores.

"Supply chain makes the difference, and if we know anything else from this pandemic at the end of the day it's about supply chain," said John Wiley Price, a Dallas County Commissioner.

This is the second of five high-tech distribution centers Walmart is launching in the coming years.

The facility will enable the retailer to process more than double the volume of a traditional distribution center, but the company says it will turn physically-demanding jobs into those that offer new skills in robotics and technology.

"Here, working alongside the automation, the associates are working more from the neck up, driving flow, fixing faults, maintaining the equipment. They go home less physically tired," said general manager Ervin Goad.

The retailer is currently hiring a variety of tech-focused positions, including automation equipment operator.

Each job brings with it an opportunity to grow a career at Walmart.

"We're changing the way that our associates work in our grocery supply chain," said Goad.

Those changes drastically reduce the number of boxes an associate has to manually stack.

The store-ready pallets are built by department, making them easier to unload at the store. This helps maximize space on trucks, reduces transportation costs and creates savings that can be passed on to customers.

"The facility we're standing in today also represents an important way in which we are living out our purpose as a people-led, tech-powered, omni-channel retailer dedicated to saving people money so they can live better," said Tim Cooper, the Senior Vice President of Grocery Operations.