U.S. grocery chain Kroger is expanding its use of automation at its distribution centers, after announcing plans to partner up with U.K. tech company Ocado. 

According to Reuters, Kroger will use Ocado's robotic picking arms to move groceries off of nearby shelves into bags for online customer orders. An "automated frameload" will then take those bags, group them into crates, and move them through a series of belts and rails onto single frames for delivery. Ocado also owns a 50% share in the U.K. grocery retail business Ocado.com.

“We are delivering a step-change in warehouse automation and new levels of efficiency to our partners as global supply chains are under significant pressure to manage higher volumes and greater complexity, as well as challenges in labor cost and availability," Ocado CEO Tim Steiner said. 

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This comes in the wake of Walmart announcing similar plans to ramp up automation, with the grocery and retail giant revealing plans on July 11 to open five automated distribution centers to manage fresh food for its online business. Walmart's facilities will be 700,000 square feet, according to CNBC, with systems that can move and stack a variety items onto dense pallets that are then sent to stores. The company says that it believes more than have of its fulfillment center volume will be moved by automated technology by 2026.