Amazon Showcases Army Of Robots For Holiday Shopping
- 10 years ago
In the midst of Black Friday to Cyber Monday retail madness, Amazon took a moment to introduce the world to its new star workers.
In the midst of Black Friday to Cyber Monday retail madness, Amazon took a moment to introduce the world to its new star workers.
They’re all named Kiva, and there are thousands of them.
The little orange robots are now hard at work in 10 of Amazon’s more than 50 fulfillment centers across the US.
It’s their job to help in the process of storing and retrieving the millions of pieces of merchandise that come in and go out.
Before the Kivas showed up, human workers would have to go from aisle to aisle, stocking and picking goods.
Now, thanks to the robots, the people can stand still while products come to them, making their loads lighter and the task faster.
Each droid carries a packed shelving unit on its back, and when summoned travels to the worker who needs it.
That person then performs the more nuanced tasks like verifying the item’s identity and quality.
That teamwork has already boosted productivity significantly.
Dave Clark, the vice president of worldwide operations for Amazon, stresses that the robots aren’t cutting into the number of human jobs available at the company – rather, the growth they facilitate creates them.
In the midst of Black Friday to Cyber Monday retail madness, Amazon took a moment to introduce the world to its new star workers.
They’re all named Kiva, and there are thousands of them.
The little orange robots are now hard at work in 10 of Amazon’s more than 50 fulfillment centers across the US.
It’s their job to help in the process of storing and retrieving the millions of pieces of merchandise that come in and go out.
Before the Kivas showed up, human workers would have to go from aisle to aisle, stocking and picking goods.
Now, thanks to the robots, the people can stand still while products come to them, making their loads lighter and the task faster.
Each droid carries a packed shelving unit on its back, and when summoned travels to the worker who needs it.
That person then performs the more nuanced tasks like verifying the item’s identity and quality.
That teamwork has already boosted productivity significantly.
Dave Clark, the vice president of worldwide operations for Amazon, stresses that the robots aren’t cutting into the number of human jobs available at the company – rather, the growth they facilitate creates them.