Walmart’s significant investment in automated systems to replace human employees is reportedly facing challenges. The robots are having difficulty managing tasks such as transporting dog food and Thanksgiving turkeys, as well as handling cardboard boxes.
One specific task, known as “breakpack,” involves workers removing products from boxes for individual shipment. This is a common duty for more than 140,000 warehouse employees, who also perform truck unloading, forklift operation, sorting, and shipment of goods.
However, this task is proving problematic for the new warehouse robots, which aren’t equipped to handle the same cardboard boxes due to size limitations, as noted in a report by the Wall Street Journal.
While it seems like a straightforward solution—just swap out the boxes—that’s what Walmart intends to do. The problem is they’ve been using the same boxes for over 20 years and have encouraged workers to reuse them to cut costs.
Now, Walmart plans to dispose of these boxes, which usually cost about $1 each, and replace them with newer boxes that are 1.5 inches shorter. These need to be taped shut, adding yet another task that will incur additional costs, according to the report.
Philip McIlrath, who manages an apparel warehouse in Indiana using the new boxes, remarked to the Journal that while it’s “a small change,” it significantly alters workers’ daily processes. He contended that the new boxes will ultimately reduce stocking time, thereby lowering labor expenses.
Walmart did not immediately provide comments regarding the situation.
The small robotic units, navigating on wheels with motion sensors, struggle to lift oversized items, like turkeys—a notable challenge that surfaced just before the Thanksgiving season a few years back. Workers in a newly automated grocery warehouse in California observed that the robots had trouble grasping large frozen turkeys, prompting a switch to assist nearby grocery warehouses with turkey deliveries to stores.
At the Brooksville warehouse in Florida, which is Walmart’s automation testing site, almost everything is now automated, according to Rob Montgomery, responsible for supply-chain operations at Walmart US. However, about 20% of the inventory, including heavy items like large-screen TVs and dog food, still proves difficult for the robots to manage.
Another complication with the automation transition is the robots’ sensitive technology. They frequently require repairs or maintenance due to everyday issues like dust accumulation, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Symbotic, the Massachusetts robotics firm behind the machines, noted that previously, under 10% of the robots required repairs at any given time, but that rate has since dropped to around 5%.
“We are sort of at this peak complexity,” Montgomery shared with the Journal.
In the meantime, the expenses associated with automation have surged, with monthly electricity costs at automated grocery facilities exceeding $800,000, compared to roughly $250,000 a month when operations were predominantly manual, an anonymous source informed the Journal.
Walmart anticipates that its spending on automation will reach its peak in the current and following year, but it believes that this technology will eventually lessen the need for warehouse workers, leading to cost reductions and faster inventory processing, while also minimizing out-of-stock products.
The company clarified that human workers will still be necessary for certain responsibilities, such as unloading trailers and maintaining the robotic systems.
Executives further indicated that layoffs are unlikely due to the high turnover rates in warehouse positions.
