Walmart runs into trouble because its very expensive robots can’t handle the realities of warehouse work

Despite spending billions of dollars to automate its warehouses, Walmart struggles to operate even the simplest robot.

Like the Wall Street Journal Reports, even something as simple as removing an item from a cardboard box to package it for customers is proving extremely difficult. After hiring several robotics companies, Walmart ultimately settled on small, wheeled robots for more than a dozen of its warehouses.

But small robots are still unable to remove larger, heavier objects, like bags of dog food. They also often fail, showing that despite strong pressures to replace human workers, companies face major obstacles in automating real-world workflows in environments such as warehouses and logistics facilities.

Executives argue that Walmart’s automation push will lead to fewer warehouse workers, leading many of them to manage and repair robots. However, this transition would come at a considerable cost. According to the WSJAccording to Walmart sources, the costs of paying mechanical and electrical engineers in its automated warehouses dwarf the payroll of unskilled warehouse workers.

It’s not just about Walmart. Amazon is also making incredible efforts to automate its warehouses, creating what Rueben Scriven of market intelligence firm Interact Analysis told WSJ amounts to an “arms race” between retailers.

Yet despite significant financial commitments, many of these efforts are collapsing. For example, Kroger had to write off a whopping $2.6 billion after a major investment in an “automated distribution network” failed to pay off.

Meanwhile, a much more ambitious transition to humanoid warehouse robots appears even more difficult. While companies are investing billions of dollars in the development of bipedal robots, this technology remains largely a moonshot for practical physical work.

Learn more about warehouse automation: Robots are about to outnumber humans in Amazon warehouses