Inside Amazon’s massive robotics rollout: A massive test of jobs at risk

A little while later, after people did what they were born to solve – solve problems – this reporter and about a dozen others entered MQY1: Amazon’s 3.6 million warehouse – the second largest company anywhere – located outside of Nashville. at Mt. Juliet, Tenn. But the growth of the fulfillment center is not what Amazon was showing today. There were hundreds of robots carrying, carrying, and sorting products inside, while displaying in different ways and each type has its own name.

From Pegasus and Proteus to Cardinal and Robin, droids have served as giant robotic hockey pucks or robotic armourers. Some of the freighters carried everyone else’s cargo, while others carried lockers full of bulk orders—all of which flowed into queues at the docks waiting in the back. Many robots can do this autonomously, meaning that they don’t need to be separated from the rest of us – or their friends – to keep them safe, as they have learned to reduce the time it takes to run a crew or team at other times. very diligent, first time guests.

The move comes amid renewed interest in industrial robots, perhaps in part due to the rise of AI. The celebrity billionaire sponsors didn’t hurt either. On Thursday evening, Elon Musk unveiled the latest prototype of Tesla’s robot, Optimus. Robots, sporting cowboy hats, served drinks, played games, and mingled with the crowd at the fun event in Hollywood. But Musk’s Optimus is years away from being commercially available. And even though Amazon tested humanoid robots made by Agility Robotics in one of its sites and invested in the startup, the droids that are constantly seeing action on the front lines of Amazon’s sites today are seen as a trapper, a science fiction and as a user. distractions that work better than people. (It should be noted that the self-propelled robots that resemble large pucks play games that “watch” for workers. That capability was added after workers commented that they weren’t sure the robot would recognize their presence when they approached.)

In another walled-off section, yellow “Robin” robots with a small hand like an elephant’s trunk pull envelopes one by one from a pile below. After Robin took each order, he placed it on top of several large Roombas, called Pegasus, that sat nearby. Each Pegasus carrier then departs invisibly to the exit point, where the crew drives the vehicles.

The warehouse of Mt. Juliet, the 11th generation of Amazon’s fulfillment center, is not new. Amazon’s first 12th facility, called SHV1 and located in Shreveport, Louisiana, was released this month. This is Amazon’s first installation of eight robotic systems working in one building.

One multi-unit warehouse in Shreveport, called Sequoia, can store 30 million items, and instantly retrieve items from that huge stack thanks to thousands of mobile robots inside. Sparrow, the AI-powered robot arm inside the SHV1, can replace human hands when it comes to handling and controlling 200 points. million separate property.

“The most exciting thing,” Amazon CEO Udit Madan told reporters last week, “is that we’re just getting started.”

What started inside Amazon with the acquisition of robotics startup Kiva in 2012, has since become “the largest division in the world,” Madan said. Today, more than 75% of all Amazon customers come from its bot-powered locations. Over time, Amazon has quietly evolved into “the world’s largest company that manufactures and uses industrial robots,” the executive said.

Look at this through a different lens, and we are witnessing perhaps the greatest to try in the robot-worker relationship in history. The catch is, like any experiment, the results are still unknown. However what the outcome lacks in certainty is what they achieve is important in determining how the physical activity will perform from now on.

Man versus machine or man with machine?

Meanwhile, Amazon executives are saying everything one would expect from the world’s most powerful employer, with more than 1.5 million employees worldwide. Yes, jobs are changing. Yes, some human activities are automated. But new information is being released, the company confirmed, including a group of journalists who witnessed their visit, if a worker who uses a stick to control one of hockey’s biggest games stops working as it should.

And the jobs that robots are taking over – lifting heavy objects, taking on repetitive tasks – are some of the worst.

Tye Brady, chief technology officer at Amazon Robotics, said Chance in an interview that the idea of ​​”people vs machines” is a “myth.” He too ended the idea of ​​Amazon finally working on “off” warehouse robots and not much else.

“That’s not my goal at all,” Brady said. “Not even close.”

“We design our machines,” he added, “to increase human power.”

Even the business case of increasing the replacement of human labor is clear – expectations such as 25% faster ordering, a 25% decrease in the “shipping cost” of customers, and no personal problems or bad days to deal with as an employer. – Amazon also promises that a safe working environment is a goal and, he says, it is already happening. Amazon said injuries in robotic warehouses were 8.5% lower in 2023 than in its non-automated warehouses.

Amazon says the Sequoia system, for example, is great for workers: It distributes the load to workers between the thighs and the middle of the chest, reducing the need to kneel, or strain to pull something from above. Sparrow’s robotic arm can handle repetition far better than a 50-year-old rotator cuff can.

It will take time to see if the benefits of new machines like Sequoia and Sparrow are as clear-cut as Amazon shows. It is also too late to recognize the unexpected trade-offs that may come with such changes.

Four years ago, a research paper reported that Amazon’s robotics environment was causing serious harm. Amazon disputed the claims, arguing that the company was more aggressive in recording injuries than its peers, and subsequently, its peer group was significantly different from what was being compared.

What is undeniable is that the introduction of some robots in previous years has created expectations of new things that can be difficult for workers. The first Kiva robots carried shelves of goods to the work area. In the past, workers picked goods from shelf spaces, which required walking 10 to 20 kilometers across the warehouse each day. Some hated that part of the job and welcomed the change.

But without the need to walk through the warehouse to pick up items, the company expected workers to pick more items per hour from the robotic shelves. Repetitive activities increased, which, especially when combined with improper techniques, can cause problems or other injuries.

Whatever his chances are in the company, Jeff Bezos has seen enough to vow in his last CEO letter to investors in 2021 that Amazon needs “a great vision for our employees to succeed.”

Three years later, Amazon wants the world — and investors — to believe that more robots, working together, and employees, will create a better Amazon brand for its customers and employees.

It is a very important moment in the history of modern corporate services. And the working life of many is going up there.