Question

Inside Amazon’s largest warehouse where you’ll find more robots than people

Amazon’s biggest, newest warehouse, with more robots than ever, brings America closer to an automated future when machines do all the work of moving everything from groceries to laptops, from makers to users. And do it faster. While Amazon has been building increasingly automated warehouses since opening its first satellite center in 1997, five miles down the road in New Castle, Del., this $250 million showcase is something entirely different.

The staff, as much as it has grown since opening this summer, is still fewer than Amazon employs at fulfillment centers one-quarter this size.

The facility is the flagship of a sweeping expansion by Amazon across the Philadelphia region. Amazon has plans to open as many as nine new facilities in the coming months. That’s on top of the 14 sites added last year across Philadelphia and its suburbs, the Lehigh Valley, South Jersey, and northern Delaware.

Amazon said automation frees workers from dull, repetitive tasks. But workers have complained that automated production has been accompanied by speed-ups and a higher-than-average rate of injuries. Why Delaware? It helps that the state gave the company, whose profits top $2 billion a month, about $4.5 million in up-front aid, while the local government cut realty taxes to a fraction of what GM paid. Wilmington’s proximity to workforces in Maryland, New Jersey, and Philadelphia’s southern suburbs helped, too.

"They try to find locations they can run at lower cost," Kumar said. (Amazon officials say the plant’s proximity to the Port of Wilmington, airports, and on-site railroad sidings don’t matter, since cargo goes in and out by truck.) "I call these very large plants the ‘motherships,’" said Brittain Ladd, a former Amazon logistics executive turned automation consultant.

Ladd said Amazon’s latest expansion draws upon location and system-management lessons from its highly profitable Amazon Web Services network of services to corporations. He sees accelerating automation as inevitable. "During the pandemic a lot of people decided they don’t want to spend 20 or 30 years working in a fulfillment center," Ladd said. "Amazon may employ a million people. But turnover in some places is nearly 100% a year. They can’t hire enough people. They have no choice but to invest in automation and robotics."

Amazon bought Kiva, which developed the robots deployed in Delaware and elsewhere, eight years go — and, thinking ahead, stopped supplying Gap and other retailers with Kiva machines as if to forestall competition and keep the savings for itself, Kumar said. Ladd expects the robotics arms race to accelerate, with Amazon forcing competitors to upgrade. "In the long run, if they are not going to innovate and automate, they will not survive," said Temple’s Kuma. "Amazon is moving very fast."

Analyse how automation at Amazon can assist with sorting and packing to create efficiencies.

Answer 1

Amazon's automation assists in sorting and packing by increasing efficiency, accuracy, and lowering the cost of operations while also handling workforce challenges. It represents a strategic business model that utilizes economies of scale to outcompete rivals and meet customer demands effectively.

Step-by-step explanation:

Automation at Amazon significantly enhances the efficiency of sorting and packing operations within its fulfillment centers. By leveraging robots and technology, Amazon can process orders with remarkable speed, accuracy, and lower operational costs. The inclusion of highly computerized systems and robots in Amazon's warehouses allows them to handle a vast array of products, manage inventory more effectively, and maintain lower average costs per sale, demonstrating economies of scale. This automation also aids in addressing workforce challenges like high employee turnover by performing repetitive tasks that would otherwise be done by human workers, thereby reducing the physical strain and injury rates associated with such tasks.

The move towards an automated future with Amazon's expansion in the Philadelphia region, including their largest warehouse in Delaware, exemplifies the strategic selection of low-rent locations and investment in automation technologies to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. This shift enables quicker delivery times to the customer and the ability to compete more effectively in the market. Ultimately, automation's role in Amazon's business model is a powerful demonstration of how technology can transform traditional retail operations and logistics.