Walmart’s warehouse robot rollout faces breakdowns and costly changes

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  Walmart is investing billions of dollars to automate some warehouse work, a transition that has been underway for about a decade.

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  The company has relied on more than 140,000 warehouse workers, whose tasks include unloading trucks, moving pallets and sorting goods.

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  Automation has faced technical and cost problems, including robots that break down, trouble handling large products and packaging that does not fit automated systems.

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  Walmart is replacing its long-used boxes with ones 1.5 inches shorter, and says the change should speed up stocking stores while adding a taping step.

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  Symbotic, Walmart’s main robotics partner, has struggled to meet Walmart’s target processing speed, although it said the share of its robots under repair fell to about 5% in recent months.

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  Walmart executives say automation will eventually reduce the need for warehouse workers, but the company says it does not expect the shift to cause layoffs.

Who

Walmart and its robotics partner Symbotic

What

Walmart is automating parts of its warehouse operations with robots.

When

The effort has been underway for about a decade; the article was published on October 10, 2026.

Where

Walmart warehouses and supply-chain facilities in the United States

Why

To automate warehouse work and reduce labor costs amid competition from Amazon.

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