BENTONVILLE, Ark.\u2014Walmart announced it will open four “next generation” fulfillment centers<\/a> over the next three years, with the first opening this summer in Joliet, Illinois, according to the company. The centers will be the \u201cfirst of their kind\u201d for Walmart and will use a combination of people, robotics and machine learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walmart partnered with Knapp, a tech company for intelligent fulfillment solutions, to develop an automated, high-density storage system that streamlines a manual, 12-step process into five steps. Walmart has tested this system in its Pedricktown, New Jersey, fulfillment center and benefits it has seen from the technology include more comfort for associates, double the storage capacity and double the number of customer orders Walmart can fulfill in a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom building new, high-tech fulfillment centers to retrofitting our regional distribution centers, we continue to modernize and transform our supply chain by adding game-changing automation technology to our facilities,\u201d wrote Walmart in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The retail giant says these four new fulfillment centers alone will provide 75% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping on millions of items, and when they are combined with its traditional fulfillment centers, Walmart says it will reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur priority is to strategically locate our [fulfillment centers] to pair most effectively with our 4,700 stores and 210 distribution centers. Together, this system of fulfillment assets is optimized to get orders to customers fast and efficiently. In this way we show our customers they need to look no further than Walmart to get what they need, when they need it,\u201d wrote Walmart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The centers will employ 4,000 workers, including in tech-focused jobs, such as control technicians, quality audit analysts and flow managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, Walmart announced the expansion of its DroneUp delivery network<\/a> to 34 sites in six states by the end the year, reaching up to four million U.S. households to deliver over one million packages by drone each year. Walmart also launched autonomous trucks<\/a> for its online grocery sector, partnering with startup Gatik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n