IN Brief:
- CVS Pharmacy is using automation at its Hainesport, New Jersey distribution centre.
- The site now processes approximately 2m items per week.
- AutoStore, Tompkins Robotics, and Bastian Solutions support the automation systems in use.
CVS Health is using advanced automation at a CVS Pharmacy distribution centre in Hainesport, New Jersey, to improve the speed, accuracy, and reliability of store replenishment across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
The facility uses hundreds of robots working inside an automated storage-and-retrieval system to move products through dense grid storage. CVS Pharmacy colleagues work alongside the automation at fixed stations, where products are sorted and routed to stores.
The Hainesport site focuses on health, beauty, personal care, and household items that stores typically need in smaller quantities. Products move through the facility in reusable tote bins, with robots retrieving stock and automated systems labelling, stacking, and preparing orders for shipment.
The operation now processes approximately 2m items each week, a significant increase compared with the site’s pre-automation performance before systems were introduced in 2023. The facility carries around 10,000 unique products, while pharmaceuticals and bulk shipments are handled through other specialist parts of the CVS Pharmacy distribution network.
Technology partners including AutoStore, Tompkins Robotics, and Bastian Solutions support the systems in use at the site. Automated palletising systems stack totes by weight, while robotic arms handle wrapping and staging to improve consistency, safety, and store-level usability.
Josh White, Chief Supply Chain and Logistics Officer at CVS Health, said: “The automation in use at our Hainesport, NJ facility is helping us get products to our stores more efficiently than ever before. The goal is to improve how accurately and efficiently we move products through our network so stores can operate with confidence and customers can get the items they want and need.”
Automated store replenishment has a different operating profile from direct-to-consumer e-commerce fulfilment. Store deliveries need to arrive accurately, be grouped in a way that staff can unpack efficiently, and support shelf availability without overwhelming limited back-of-store space.
CVS Pharmacy’s model also changes labour planning inside the distribution centre. By reducing unnecessary walking, manual searching, and repetitive handling, the system allows colleagues to work at fixed stations while robots move goods through the facility. Human supervision, exception handling, and quality control remain central, but more of the physical movement is shifted into automated systems.
Retail distribution networks are increasingly being redesigned around higher service expectations and denser SKU profiles. AutoZone’s mega-hub expansion has shown the same pressure in automotive parts distribution, where broader stock availability and faster replenishment are being used to improve store performance.
The CVS Pharmacy application brings that logic into health, beauty, personal care, and household replenishment. Although regulated medicines are handled elsewhere, pharmacy retailers operate with high service expectations, tight store space, limited labour flexibility, and frequent replenishment cycles. Better distribution accuracy can reduce store workload, prevent overstocking, and improve availability of everyday essentials.
Large retail networks are also moving away from single-technology automation decisions. Automated storage, robotic sortation, palletising, labelling, warehouse controls, order management, and transport planning all need to work together if throughput gains are to reach stores in a useful form. A fast automated grid has limited value if outbound sequencing, tote handling, or store unloading creates a new bottleneck.
Labour availability, wage pressure, store complexity, and inventory expectations will continue to push automation into store replenishment. CVS Pharmacy’s Hainesport operation shows how robotics can be applied to routine retail distribution, not only high-profile e-commerce fulfilment, with measurable gains in throughput and consistency across a regional store network.
