Walmart's efforts to automate warehouse tasks with robots are encountering challenges as these machines struggle with simple tasks like handling dog food and cardboard boxes. The company plans to replace traditional cardboard boxes with new ones that cost more but could eventually reduce labor costs, according to Philip McIlrath, a warehouse manager in Indiana. However, the robotic systems, which can manage about 80% of inventory, face technical issues such as frequent breakdowns due to minor problems like dust buildup, driving up maintenance and operational expenses significantly.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Walmart's ambitious plan to replace human workers with robots in its warehouses is facing hurdles. The initiative, aimed at reducing labor costs, has encountered difficulties handling tasks such as removing items from cardboard boxes and managing products like dog food and Thanksgiving turkeys. Walmart currently employs more than 140,000 warehouse workers across the United States for a variety of roles including unloading trucks, operating machinery, sorting goods, and shipping orders.
For over two decades, Walmart has relied on reusable cardboard boxes to save costs, but these old boxes are now being replaced with new ones that cost more due to additional manufacturing requirements like taping. The switch is causing disruptions in the daily routines of warehouse staff, according to Philip McIlrath, a manager at an Indiana apparel warehouse. Despite initial challenges, Walmart continues its push towards automation, highlighting the complexities involved in transitioning from manual labor to robotic systems.
Written for “Walmart Robot Initiative Struggles” on 2026-10-09,
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Walmart’s multibillion-dollar push to replace human workers with robots is reportedly hitting snags as the machinery struggles to carry dog food and Thanksgiving turkeys or handle cardboard boxes.
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machinery → replace → boxes
A simple task called “breakpack” – when workers remove items from cardboard boxes to ship out individually – is easy for Walmart’s more than 140,000 warehouse workers, who also unload trucks, operate forklifts, sort and store goods on shelves, and send out shipments.
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who → call → shipments
It might sound like a simple fix – replace the boxes.
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It → sound → boxes
And that’s what Walmart is planning to do.
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Walmart → ’ → what
But the largest retail chain in the world has been using the same cardboard boxes for more than two decades, urging workers to reuse the boxes to save on costs.
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chain → use → costs
Now Walmart is planning to throw all those boxes – which cost an average of $1 each – in the trash, replacing them with new ones that are 1 ½ inches shorter and need to be taped closed, a new step that will cost more money, the report said.
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report → plan → money
Philip McIlrath, the manager of an Indiana apparel warehouse using the new boxes, told the Journal it’s “a small change,” but for workers, “it’s changing their daily routine quite a bit.”
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it → use → routine
He argued the new boxes will eventually reduce stocking time, which will lower labor costs.
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which → argue → costs
Walmart did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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Walmart → respond → comment
The small robots, which move on wheels through the warehouses using motion sensors, struggle to hold oversized or heavy items, like turkeys – a problem that emerged a few years ago just ahead of the Thanksgiving rush, the report said.
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report → move → rush
Workers in a newly-automated grocery warehouse in California noticed that the machine’s robotic arms fumbled large frozen turkeys.
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arms → automate → turkeys
It required a shift to nearby grocery warehouses, which helped with turkey shipments to physical stores.
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which → require → stores
The Brooksville warehouse in Florida, Walmart’s automation test site, is now nearly “fully automated,” according to Rob Montgomery, the head of supply-chain operations at Walmart US overseeing the automation of nearly 200 locations.
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warehouse → automate → locations
About 80% of inventory at Brooksville is moved using automation.
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% → move → automation
But the robotics are still struggling to manage the remaining 20%, which includes heavy objects like large-screen TVs and dog food.
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which → struggle → TVs
Another issue plaguing the automation rollout is the robots’ finicky tech issues.
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issue → plague → rollout
The bots – made by Symbotic, a Massachusetts robotics company – frequently break down or need maintenance, even from something as minor as dust buildup, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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bots → make → Journal
Symbotic said less than 10% of the robots were being fixed at any given time last year, and that percentage has since dropped to about 5%.
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percentage → say → %
“We are kind of in this peak complexity,” Montgomery told the Journal.
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Montgomery → tell → Journal
In the meantime, automation has driven costs higher, with monthly electric bills at automated grocery facilities reaching $800,000 or more – up from roughly $250,000 a month when operations were mostly manual, the Journal reported, citing an anonymous source.
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Journal → drive → source
Walmart expects its spending on automation to peak this year and next, but it also believes the new tech will eventually require fewer warehouse workers, cutting down costs; process more inventory at a faster pace; and limit the frequency of out-of-stock goods.
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tech → expect → goods
The company said it will still need human workers for some tasks, like unloading trailers, as well as to work on the robotic systems.
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it → say → systems
Company executives also said layoffs won’t be necessary because warehouses have such high job turnover.
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warehouses → say → turnover
The Aporia
