PepsiCo Beverages U.S. will discontinue warehouse operations at its Tulsa production facility later this year while continuing beverage production at the site, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with Oklahoma officials.

The WARN notice states that warehouse operations at the facility in Tulsa will end effective November 15. Approximately 184 warehouse employees are expected to be affected. The layoffs are expected to be permanent, but the remainder of the facility will remain open. The company is working to place affected employees in other positions at the Tulsa facility or nearby locations.

The notice does not identify where warehouse operations will relocate or describe how distribution responsibilities will be handled after the transition.

The move comes just weeks after PepsiCo said in prepared remarks accompanying its second-quarter earnings report that it is continuing to advance automation, digitalization and simplification initiatives across the business to improve operating leverage. The company said it expected its productivity savings to help fund investments in portfolio innovation, affordability initiatives and future growth.

“In North America, the convenient foods business continued to gain volume share and improved household penetration following key commercial actions in place. The U.S. convenient foods business has established the leading permissible portfolio in salty snacks and now holds five of the ten largest permissible snack brands. In beverages, functional hydration and zero sugar offerings continued to perform well. However, results were tempered in the quarter as U.S. food and beverage category performance moderated with consumer budgets tightening due to rising inflationary pressures,” the company said in the statement.

PepsiCo also reaffirmed its commitment to expanding its presence in away-from-home channels. Within PepsiCo Beverages North America, the company highlighted growth in foodservice and restaurant accounts and said it plans to broaden the reach of recently introduced beverage innovations, pointing to strong performance from Gatorade Lower Sugar and Propel Clear Protein in the functional hydration category as well as Pepsi Zero Sugar, Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream, Mountain Dew Zero Sugar and Mug Root Beer in carbonated beverages. 

“Looking ahead, we will continue to broaden the reach and availability of recently introduced on-trend innovations — including Pepsi Prebiotic, Gatorade Lower Sugar, the newly reformulated Muscle Milk, Starbucks Coffee & Protein, Pure Leaf Mental Focus, Dirty Mountain Dew Cream Soda and Mountain Dew Baja Cabo Citrus,” the company said in remarks attributed to chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta and CFO Steve Schmitt.

While PepsiCo reported softer-than-expected North American beverage performance during the second quarter, the company reaffirmed its full-year financial guidance and said productivity initiatives are expected to help support continued investment in the business.

PepsiCo has not publicly announced the location of the new warehouse operation or provided additional details about the distribution transition.