The Aporia · Walmart’s multibillion-dollar push to replace workers with robots hits snags on dog food, cardboard boxes: report

Walmart’s multibillion-dollar push to replace workers with robots hits snags on dog food, cardboard boxes: report

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APA MLA Chicago

Herzlich, T. (2026, October 9). Walmart’s multibillion-dollar push to replace workers with robots hits snags on dog food, cardboard boxes: report. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/09/business/walmarts-multibillion-dollar-push-to-replace-workers-with-robots-hits-snags-on-dog-food-cardboard-boxes-report/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

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 by AI on 2026-10-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

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 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

17%

4 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

66/100

New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Economy/Business

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-09 · how these are computed

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Publisher

New York Post · 15307 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

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Taylor Herzlich

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Topics

Brooksville Indiana Journal Symbotic Walmart

Subjects

Walmart ORG · 7× Journal ORG · 3× Brooksville GPE · 2× Symbotic ORG · 2× California GPE · 1× Florida GPE · 1× Indiana GPE · 1× Philip McIlrath PERSON · 1× Post ORG · 1× Rob Montgomery PERSON · 1×

Narrative

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.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-09

🔮 It might sound like a simple fix – replace the boxes.

2026-10-09 · New York Post

Walmart’s multibillion-dollar push to replace workers with robots hits snags on dog food, cardboard boxes: report · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 4 hedged)

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. uncertain

machinery → replace → boxes

who → call → shipments

It might sound like a simple fix – replace the boxes. uncertain

It → sound → boxes

And that’s what Walmart is planning to do. asserted

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. asserted

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. asserted

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.” asserted

it → use → routine

He argued the new boxes will eventually reduce stocking time, which will lower labor costs. asserted

which → argue → costs

Walmart did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. asserted

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. asserted

report → move → rush

Workers in a newly-automated grocery warehouse in California noticed that the machine’s robotic arms fumbled large frozen turkeys. asserted

arms → automate → turkeys

It required a shift to nearby grocery warehouses, which helped with turkey shipments to physical stores. asserted

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. uncertain

warehouse → automate → locations

About 80% of inventory at Brooksville is moved using automation. asserted

% → move → automation

But the robotics are still struggling to manage the remaining 20%, which includes heavy objects like large-screen TVs and dog food. asserted

which → struggle → TVs

Another issue plaguing the automation rollout is the robots’ finicky tech issues. asserted

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. uncertain

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%. asserted

percentage → say → %

“We are kind of in this peak complexity,” Montgomery told the Journal. asserted

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. asserted

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. asserted

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. asserted

it → say → systems

Company executives also said layoffs won’t be necessary because warehouses have such high job turnover. asserted

warehouses → say → turnover