Drug store chain Walgreens recently opened an innovative new distribution center in Anderson, S.C. What makes the facility unique is not the technology inside—it’s the workforce.

Forty percent of the DC’s 264 employees are people with disabilities. Many of them were recruited through a special Web site—walgreensoutreach.com—that uses videos and detailed job descriptions to help potential employees determine whether they’re qualified for the work.

Walgreens’ hiring initiative is not just charity. The Anderson facility, says Randy Lewis, vice president of distribution and logistics at Walgreens, is 20% more efficient than the chain’s older DCs.

“With these workers we have the lowest turnover and less absenteeism, and there are a lot of other rational arguments you can make,” says Lewis, adding that this workforce performs just as well or better than one without disabilities.

Employees at the Anderson facility use touch-screens that display icons, and workstations are ergonomically designed to the workers’ range of motion. The company will duplicate this recipe of people and technology at a DC scheduled to open in Hartford, Conn., in 2009.

While not all Walgreens’ facilities use the same technology, all of them employ people of varying abilities, including those with autism and cerebral palsy.

Jim Tompkins, president and CEO of supply chain consulting firm Tompkins Associates, says there’s a big future in materials handling for senior citizens, the disabled and a variety of other people who have not been successful finding employment.

“What a shame more companies aren’t doing [what Walgreens is],” he says. “Underemployed people often turn out to be very loyal. You don’t have turnover or absenteeism and they take pride in their work. Plus, pick-to-light or put-to-light technology is conducive to employing the handicapped in that environment.”

Randy Lewis offers these tips for building a workforce of people with disabilities:

1. Get a partner to provide the workforce (consult your state’s vocational rehab agency).
2. Start with a “rock star” employee.
3. Hold your ground on standards.
4. Face co-workers’ fears with education.