Kroger's national fulfillment network expands
with addition of Pleasant Prairie Customer Fulfillment
Center
PLEASANT
PRAIRIE, Wis., June 28,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR),
America's largest grocery retailer, today announced the official
opening of the Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC) in the
Village of Pleasant Prairie, WI, a
city centrally located between Milwaukee and Chicago, powered by the Ocado Group (LSE:
OCDO), engineering a model for the region, leveraging advanced
robotics technology and creative solutions to redefine the customer
experience for our customers in Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and northwest Indiana.
"We are thrilled to launch Kroger Delivery in Pleasant Prairie, continuing our long-standing
engagement in the state of Wisconsin. Our tradition of fresh is all about
our customers, and this true milestone moment incorporates
end-to-end cold solutions, including customized refrigerated vans,
providing Kenosha County residents
with everything fresh, every time," said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger's senior vice president
and chief supply chain officer. "Through the incredible
relationships with several local departments including Kenosha County and Village of Pleasant Prairie, this
collaboration was key to success that will bring nearly 250 jobs to
the 336,840 square-foot high-tech fulfillment center and will
enable us to expand our delivery services to new areas in the
region in need of our best-in-class service."
The company also collaborated with Kenosha Area Business
Alliance, Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Wisconsin
Economic Development Corporation.
"Kroger is a tremendous example of how a company's vision and
collaboration with the Village can provide new jobs to the region,
said John Steinbrink Sr., Pleasant
Prairie Village President. Kroger is a welcomed community partner,
and we look forward to seeing their investment in our community
succeed. Our residents will be excited to know a facility in
Pleasant Prairie can deliver fresh
groceries right to the doorstep of our neighborhoods. In addition,
the Village staff would like to thank Kroger and Kenosha County for working with the Village on
the Transportation Economic Assistance Grant that widened Highway
H. The road improvements will ensure traffic surrounding the new
Kroger facility continues to flow smoothly."
"Through our growing partnership, we are helping Kroger Delivery
to introduce a world-leading online grocery proposition to their
customers across the USA. Enabled
by Ocado Group's unique, cutting-edge technology, this fulfillment
centre will introduce a step change in the kind of service and
efficiency that shoppers across Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and northwest Indiana can expect from grocery ecommerce,"
said Luke Jensen, CEO of Ocado
Solutions.
"Kenosha County is the hotspot
for economic development in the State of
Wisconsin and we welcome Kroger's new state-of-the-art food
fulfillment center," said Samantha
Kerkman, Kenosha County Executive. "Utilizing the latest
robotics and logistics technology, this e-commerce fulfillment
center provides a vital role in offering access to fresh food,
especially to those residents without easy access to groceries. We
look forward to providing the Kroger leadership team with a
supportive business environment here in Kenosha County."
"Kroger's partnership with Ocado on this new Pleasant Prairie facility allows Wisconsin to help discover innovative
solutions for grocery ordering and delivery," said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin
Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). "While this facility will
use robots and the latest technology to fulfill orders, this
project is also expected to create more than 200 jobs."
WEDC is supporting the project with up to $1.5 million in state tax credits to the Kroger
Fulfillment Network and up to $500,000 in tax credits to Ocado
Solutions. The company worked closely with Kenosha Area
Business Alliance, Kenosha County,
Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Wisconsin Economic
Development Corporation and the Village of Pleasant
Prairie.
Kroger Delivery Explained
This expansion 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.
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 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
like road conditions and optimal fuel efficiency. Drivers may
travel up to 90 miles with orders from facilities to make
deliveries.
Kroger currently operates customer fulfillment centers in
Monroe, OH, Groveland, FL, Forest Park, GA (Atlanta), Dallas,
TX and Pleasant Prairie, WI
with additional customer fulfillment centers slated for
California, Frederick, MD, Phoenix, AZ, Romulus, MI (Detroit), Cleveland,
OH, Charlotte, NC,
Denver, CO as well as South Florida and the Northeast.
Media Assets
To download Kroger Delivery photography and video, visit
here.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone™ and
dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are, across
our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve
over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping
experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to
creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more
about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
About Ocado Group
Ocado Group is a UK based technology company admitted to trading
on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker OCDO). It provides end-to-end
online grocery fulfilment solutions to some of the world's largest
grocery retailers and holds a 50% share of Ocado Retail Ltd in the
UK in a Joint Venture with Marks & Spencer. Ocado has spent two
decades innovating for grocery online, investing in a wide
technology estate that includes robotics, AI & machine
learning, simulation, forecasting, and edge intelligence.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.