Amazon’s most advanced fulfilment centre in Shreveport, Louisiana is set to embrace a significant increase in robotic technology powered by AI.
The Shreveport facility spans across five floors and is more than 3 million ft² in size, making it one of Amazon’s largest sites.
When the facility is fully operational, it will employ 2,500 people, and the company says that for the first time, it has introduced technology solutions in all key production areas at the site.
The implementation of these new solutions will enable employees to work alongside a growing fleet of robotic systems in a way that an Amazon spokesperson claimed “wasn’t possible until now.”
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Existing robotic technology from Amazon will be present in the facility, including a trio of robotic arms ‘Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow’, which sort, stack, and consolidate millions of orders.
The latest version of the Sparrow robot can now handle more than 200 million unique products of different sizes, and uses advanced computer vision and AI.
Additionally, a new robot called Proteus is able to move around humans, carrying large stacks of items and distributing them to where they are needed.
It was designed specifically to be approachable, which includes giving it ‘eyes’ to make it appear more friendly. The robot also went through some field testing to ensure that it was approved of by employees.
The online giant has said that as it deploys a new generation of robotic technologies across its sites, it expects employee headcount to grow as more opportunities for skilled jobs arise.
Amazon predicts that the advance sites will require 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance, and engineering roles.
The company has also said that within its advanced sites, processing times for orders have been reduced by 25%, as well as having increased the number of items available for next-day and same-day delivery.
Innovations and achievements in AI and robotics in warehousing will be highlighted and celebrated at the second annual Robotics & Automation Awards on 06 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.roboticsandautomationawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable industry event – and to book your table!
