The company started adding technology to a handful of warehouses in
recent years, which scans goods coming down a conveyor belt and envelops
them seconds later in boxes custom-built for each item, two people who
worked on the project told Reuters.
automatic granule packing machine
Amazon has considered installing two machines at dozens more warehouses,
removing at least 24 roles at each one, these people said. These
facilities typically employ more than 2,000 people.
That would amount to more than 1,300 cuts across 55 U.S. fulfillment
centers for standard-sized inventory. Amazon would expect to recover the
costs in under two years, at $1 million per machine plus operational
expenses, they said.
The plan, previously unreported, shows how Amazon is pushing to reduce
labor and boost profits as automation of the most common warehouse task –
picking up an item – is still beyond its reach. The changes are not
finalized because vetting technology before a major deployment can take a
long time.
Amazon is famous for its drive to automate as many parts of its business
as possible, whether pricing goods or transporting items in its
warehouses. But the company is in a precarious position as it considers
replacing jobs that have won it subsidies and public goodwill.
“We are piloting this new technology with the goal of increasing safety,
speeding up delivery times and adding efficiency across our network,”
an Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement. “We expect the efficiency
savings will be re-invested in new services for customers, where new
jobs will continue to be created.”
(Dave Clark is Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations)
Amazon last month downplayed its automation efforts to press visiting
its Baltimore fulfillment center, saying a fully robotic future was far
off. Its employee base has grown to become one of the largest in the
United States, as the company opened new warehouses and raised wages to
attract staff in a tight labor market.
A key to its goal of a leaner workforce is attrition, one of the sources
said. Rather than lay off workers, the person said, the world’s largest
online retailer will one day refrain from refilling packing roles.
Those have high turnover because boxing multiple orders per minute over
10 hours is taxing work. At the same time, employees that stay with the
company can be trained to take up more technical roles.
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