By 1808Delaware
Kroger has announced that it is placing a spoke facility in Lockbourne, south of Columbus, powered by the UK robotics companyOcado Group. This investment will bring innovation and ecommerce to customers within a 200 mile radius, including Delaware County, giving it extended reach and providing better delivery services.
“We’re proud to expand the Kroger fulfillment network in our home state,” said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger’s senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. “The new service is an innovative addition to the expanding digital shopping experience available to Kroger customers. Our delivery business continues to accelerate with the growth of fulfillment and spoke facilities. This expansion will further our commitment to create career opportunities and serve shoppers fresh food fast through interconnected, automated, and last-mile solutions across America.”
Employing 200 in the 61,000 square foot facility, the center will work with another in Monroe, Ohio to make Kroger delivery available to 250 central Ohio zip codes and to eliminate the need to use third-party delivery services.
According to a press release:
“The expansion in Central Ohio represents an extension of a partnership between Kroger and Ocado, a world leader in technology for grocery e-commerce. In 2018, the companies announced a collaboration to establish a delivery network that combines artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and automation in a bold new way, bringing first-of-its-kind technology to America. Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said Kroger Delivery “underpins the permanent shift in grocery consumer behavior and elevates our position as one of America’s leading e-commerce companies.” Through the delivery network, the company now serves customers in Florida, as an example, without traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
The delivery network relies on highly automated fulfillment centers. At the “hub” sites, more than 1,000 bots whizz around giant 3D grids, orchestrated by proprietary air-traffic control systems in the unlicensed spectrum. The grid, known as The Hive, contains totes with products and ready-to-deliver customer orders.
As customers’ orders near their delivery times, the bots retrieve products from The Hive and are presented at pick stations for items to be sorted for delivery, a process governed by algorithms that ensures items are intelligently packed. For example, fragile items are placed on top, bags are evenly weighted, and each order is optimized to fit into the lowest number of bags, reducing plastic use.
After being packed, groceries are loaded into a refrigerated delivery van, which can store up to 20 orders. Powerful machine learning algorithms optimize delivery routes, considering factors such as road conditions and optimal fuel efficiency. Vans may travel up to 90 miles with orders from the hub and spoke facilities to make deliveries. Associates at the spoke facility will deliver orders within their service area, adding ZIP codes as demand grows.”
