Amazon's new distribution center: the number of working robots will increase tenfold!
Amazon announced the construction of a new type of distribution center, where the number of working robots will increase by 10 times. At the same time, Amazon is also introducing the most advanced Sequoia inventory system to improve efficiency, allowing for more products to be stored and making it more convenient for workers to work. However, this does not mean that robots will replace humans, as the warehouse will still employ many human workers
On Wednesday, October 9th, Amazon announced at the "Delivering the Future" event that they plan to establish new warehouses as distribution centers for delivering packages with the help of robots.
The first "next-generation distribution center" is being built in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. This warehouse is particularly large, covering 3 million square feet, equivalent to 55 football fields.
This five-story warehouse represents Amazon's latest advancements in robot technology. Amazon has been researching robots for over a decade, dating back to their acquisition of a company called Kiva in 2012. Since then, Amazon has been dedicated to integrating robot technology into its daily operations. Now, Amazon is taking a new approach by integrating robots and AI more deeply into its workflow.
While Amazon has not disclosed the specific number of robots that will be deployed in the new warehouse, they have indicated that it will be 10 times more than a standard warehouse. Currently, Amazon has deployed nearly one million robots in its warehouses across the United States.
Amazon now uses various types of robots, including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) like Kiva that can move around the warehouse on their own. There are also robot arms named Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow.
Additionally, Amazon has introduced a new inventory system called Sequoia, which is referred to as the "most advanced multi-level container inventory system" that allows workers to access goods faster and safer. In the "next-generation distribution center," the Sequoia system is expected to accommodate over 30 million items.
Amazon is expanding this new system to be larger and able to hold more items. The new Sequoia system is five times larger than the first Sequoia system deployed in Houston last year. To achieve this goal, Amazon hired three founders of Covariant in August, Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen, and Rocky Duan. Their addition will help Amazon deploy AI across all robots and systems in the warehouse.
Now, Amazon is testing whether these robot systems can work together effectively in the warehouse in Louisiana, as it has been challenging to have different robots work together in the past.
Despite the introduction of highly automated systems, Amazon emphasizes that human employees still play an important role in these new processes. Amazon expects to hire 2,500 people once the warehouse in Louisiana is fully operational