Thursday marked a historic moment for Walmart as well as the city of Colton and the Agua Mansa corridor. The facility held a ribbon cutting to celebrate associates and show world class logistics technology to the community. Walmart plans to hire more than 200 associates by the end of the year for its first 340,000-square-foot automated consolidation center in Colton. The new hires will join the more than 400 associates that have already been hired at the facility located at 1600 Agua Mansa Road since it opened in July 2019. The full-time positions have a starting rate of $17.70 per hour. Walmart held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration today that was attended by members of the community, including Colton Mayor Frank J. Navarro.
“I am proud that Colton is home to the first-of-its-kind Walmart facility that is creating hundreds of great jobs in the area,” said Daniel A. Barrera, Walmart general manager for the Colton automated consolidation center. “Walmart’s investment in this facility shows our commitment to the community and highlights how we’re using advanced technology and innovation to benefit our suppliers, strengthen our supply chain and better serve our customers.”
During the ceremony, Walmart awarded $5,000 in grants to the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Foundation and the Colton Parks & Recreation Foundation. Since beginning operations, the Colton Automation Consolidation Center has awarded more than $16,000 in grants to non-profit organizations in the community. The program concluded with tours of the facility, which features world-class logistics technology that make it the most efficient consolidation center in Walmart’s supply chain.
The Colton consolidation center is the first in Walmart’s supply chain to receive, sort and ship freight. At other consolidation centers, suppliers ship merchandise separately to each of Walmart’s 42 regional distribution centers, and each shipment is manually processed. With automated technology that scans products as they arrive, three to four times more volume can flow through the center. This helps Walmart deliver the right product to the right store, so customers can find the products they need.
“Our newest automated consolidation center in Colton is the next step in streamlining merchandise shipments with state-of-the-art technology that gets products into customers’ hands faster and more cost efficiently,” said Geno Bell, Walmart senior director of the consolidation center network. “This ribbon-cutting ceremony is an important milestone to recognize the incredible work our associates have done to get the facility up and running and show the community how we’re driving best-in-class supply chain right here in the Inland Empire.”