Staples, Crate and Barrel, Gap and now Amazon. We are not talking about shopping, but about packaging and shipping. Amazon is one of the largest online sellers. As the popularity picked up the managing of employees and customer satisfaction were under a brunt.
The morning call interviewed few employees of Amazon and the facts were shocking. The working conditions in the warehouse were tough. Hot weather and frequent movement of inventory to organize or ship created medical complications for the employees. During heat waves Amazon arranged for paramedics to treat workers suffering from dehydration or other forms of heat stress. The targets were beyond human capacity, which led to more hiring of temporary workers. Even $11 to $12 an hour could not justify the tough job demands.
Chaos made Amazon to think and do something more than just hiring which ultimately shrinks its profitability. Kiva Solutions did seem like a good option. So Amazon purchased it for $775 million in early 2012. The orange robots walks up to 13 to 15 miles every day taking just a few breaks for charging. They bring in products to the workers and also organize the existing stock according to the demand pattern. The productivity increased by three to four times as many orders per hour. The “game changing” tech calls it as “magic shelf” or the Kiva warehouse automation system. They do all the walking which used to be done by humans striking off items to be loaded. The Atlantic wire says, “The robots—squat, orange cubes—zip around shipping centers loaded with inventory shelves stacked several feet into the air above them. The robots can be tailored to each particular client, with customized software.”
These robots definitely are a breakthrough for efficiency and productivity.More industries would eye on it especially the ones that have high cost labor force.
Image Source: The Atlantic wire.
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