BENTONVILLE, Ark., March 14, 2024 — For years, Walmart has used AI to create a more efficient supply chain, reducing emissions while helping to ensure more of the items its customers want are available where, when and how they want them. Today, the company is making that same award-winning, AI-powered logistics technology — Route Optimization — available to all businesses as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution through Walmart Commerce Technologies.
“We have invested significant time, resources and operational knowhow into building solutions like Route Optimization, but that can be a barrier for many businesses,” said Anshu Bhardwaj, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Walmart Global Tech and Walmart Commerce Technologies. “By adopting our at-scale, AI-powered technology, businesses can eliminate the need and expense of developing their own technology, and instead focus on what they do best – serve their customers.”
Route Optimization provides businesses of all sizes the use of AI-driven software to optimize driving routes, pack trailers efficiently and minimize miles traveled. Using this same custom technology, Walmart avoided 94 million pounds of CO² by eliminating 30 million unnecessary miles driven and optimizing routes to bypass 110,000 inefficient paths. Walmart won the prestigious Franz Edelman Award in 2023 for building and deploying this technology at scale.