Amazon uses robots that are 5 times more productive than humans in warehouses

Amazon's largest e-commerce group is rushing to speed up the automation process in giant warehouses around the world. Instead of using tens of thousands of workers today, Amazon will switch to using automated robots in tasks such as shipping or packaging, with productivity expected to be nearly five times higher than humans.

According to Reuters, Amazon has in fact started adding automation technology to some warehouses in the last few years, especially for tasks such as scanning catalogs and packaging them. in the box made specifically for each respective item.

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Currently, Amazon is considering installing two automatic packing robot assemblies in dozens of different warehouses, in which each cluster of robots will be able to replace 12 normal workers. It is known that each Amazon warehouse averages more than 2,000 employees.

Thus, to completely replace the number of employees working in the packaging line at 55 of their standard warehouses across the United States, Amazon will need 1,300 automation robotic assemblies. As expected, the company will recover the investment costs in just 2 years, at $ 1 million for each machine plus operating costs.

This large-scale reform plan shows that Amazon is making a real effort to cut labor to the maximum extent, while cutting operating costs by moving toward full automation of hand jobs. legs are being handled by people in their largest warehouses around the world. However, at the present time, this plan will still face many difficulties. The problem is not the investment cost but the limitations of the robot system's capabilities. It will take a lot of time with countless tests to make Amazon realize this ambitious plan.

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Amazon has always been a well-known name for its tireless efforts in automating as many parts in the business line as possible, from complex jobs like valuing goods to shipping goods. in each warehouse. However, the company is also facing many other complex issues related to subsidies as well as criticism from the community when replacing tens of thousands of robot jobs, causing many people to lose their jobs.

'We are testing this new technology with the goal of increasing safety, maximizing delivery time, as well as increasing transaction efficiency for each order. We hope that efficient savings will be reinvested in new services for customers, where new job placements will continue to be created, 'Amazon spokesman said in one. Press Release.

Amazon's huge human resource base has made them one of the largest US companies at the moment. Especially when the need to open new warehouses is still very urgent and many wage increase policies have been introduced to attract workers in a labor market with high competition.

One key to streamlining the workforce is to apply more stringent regulations. Instead of firing direct workers, the world's largest online retailer can impose stricter regulations on productivity at work. Those who achieve the required productivity will receive additional bonuses, or can even be trained to take on more technical roles.

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The automated packaging robot systems that Amazon intends to use are named CartonWrap, built and installed by Italian company CMC Srl. According to calculations, these robotic systems will give the ability to pack goods much faster than humans. Specifically, they can pack between 600 and 700 orders per hour, which is 4 to 5 times the speed of a professional packaging worker today. However, these machinery systems will require a manager to load customer orders, another to provide cardboard, glue and a maintenance technician. , repair when there is a problem.

Although Amazon has stated it intends to speed up shipping through its Prime customer loyalty program, this latest automation plan does not really focus on delivery speed, but efficiency. and the ability to save costs.

With the participation of another robot system called Smartacac - used to send products and patented - Amazon will be able to automate most of the human positions in the packaging chain. . 5 teams of workers at a packing facility can be streamlined into 2, with additional participation of 2 CMC and 1 SmartPac systems.

Currently, Amazon is benefiting quite a lot from incentives in recruitment agreements for the government and local authorities. For example, for 1,500 jobs that Amazon recruited last year in Alabama, the state promised to cut the company by $ 48.7 million in taxes over 10 years.

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Difficulties in packaging products

Amazon is not the only enterprise interested in testing automated packaging technology of CMC. JD.com Inc, Shutoston Inc or Walmart Inc, are big retailers that are interested in using machines in some business stages.

Many sources say Walmart - the leader in the list of 500 largest US businesses - has begun deploying automation systems more than 3 years ago in a number of large warehouses.

The growing interest of retail businesses in automated packaging technology sheds light on the biggest challenges they have to cope with if they want to stay afloat or beyond. The school, that's how to find ingenious robotic arms, can handle a variety of items without causing damage and at the same time still have higher productivity than humans.

Amazon uses a multitude of workers at each warehouse, many of whom take on variations of the same task. Some people handle inventory, while others are tasked with sorting orders, others take orders accordingly, and the rest have to pack goods with click boxes. suitable ruler. 'This rice run line' requires extremely high synchronization, minimizing confusion because every mistake in a stage can lead to the same result for the next stages. follow, while productivity must still be guaranteed.

Therefore, many joint ventures are supported and researchers, embedded programmers are racing every day to find the optimal automation solution for this job. Although advances in artificial intelligence in the past few years are helping to significantly improve the accuracy of the machines, there is no guarantee that the robot arm does not make mistakes or damage the product or Order deviation.

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Besides CMC, Amazon has collaborated and tested automatic packaging lines of many different technology providers, in which Soft Robotics, a Boston start-up company was inspired by white tentacles. to design more flexible robot arms, highly appreciated by Amazon. Soft Robotics declined to comment on their cooperation agreement with Amazon, but said the company used to create processing lines for diverse and ever-changing products for many major retailers.

Given that robot systems are still not really ingenious enough to handle the most complex tasks in the packaging chain, Amazon's plan is only at building less complex automated processes. than. Specifically, Amazon will still need workers to classify and place items on the conveyor belt, and then the machine will be tasked with canning as well as sealing and labeling specific. This saves costs not only by cutting down labor but also from minimizing waste in packaging materials.

However, these mechanical systems are not without errors. CMC can produce a lot of such robotic systems every year, but they also need a technician at the scene who can fix the problems that arise - the requirement that Amazon wants but CMC still can't respond to application. Super hot glue used to box can cause damage to the machine.

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In general, these robot systems are still proven to be excellent for Amazon. The company has installed them in busy warehouses in Seattle, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, Manchester and many other areas.

Amazon's move is clear evidence that the era of automation is near, and people will have to compete with machines in an unequal battle.