Robots in the Warehouse

Robots have slowly taken over Amazon warehouses, and have reduced the packaging process by nearly an hour and fifteen minutes per order.  When the Kiva robots were first introduced to Amazon in 2011, no one imagined how quickly they would impact companies all over the world. After only a year of using robots in the warehouse, Amazon was convinced and bought out Kiva Systems for $775 million.  Since then, the amount of robots being used in their warehouses has increased from 1,300 to 30,000 bots.

Amazon robots are squared shaped machines that can run at a steady speed of 5 mph and haul packages weighing up to 700 pounds. The warehouse workers are now able to pick items two or three times faster than filling orders manually. These impressive results have encouraged other companies to try out other robot alternatives, as Amazon has decided not to sell their robots after the buyout.

Many warehouse employees are concerned that companies will soon push for total warehouse automation. Robots in the warehouse could potentially save companies lots of money as they do not require health insurance, lunch breaks or vacations. The price of robots is expected to decrease, and it will soon be less expensive to buy a robot than to pay for a human employee with benefits. Many believe that robots will soon replace humans with positions that have simple and repetitive task.

 

Banker, S. (2016, January 11). Robots In The Warehouse: It's Not Just Amazon. Retrieved January 17, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2016/01/11/robots-in-the-warehouse-its-not-just-amazon/?ss=logistics-transport#40a5ac992f80

Kaplan, M. (2015, September 10). Will Robots Take Over Ecommerce Warehouses? Retrieved January 25, 2016, from http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/92213-Will-Robots-Take-Over-Ecommerce-Warehouses

Kim, E. (2015, October 22). Amazon is now using a whole lot more of the robots from the company it bought for $775 million. Retrieved January 17, 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-doubled-the-number-of-kiva-robots-2015-10