Amazon's Robotic Staff Surges, Doubling In Three Years

Amazon has significantly expanded its utilisation of robots within its fulfillment centers, asserting itself as the world’s largest producer of industrial robots in the process.

A report from Business Insider indicates a surge in robot numbers, jumping from 3,50,000 in 2021 to 7,50,000 by mid-2023.

Amazon employs various types of robots in its operations to efficiently manage its vast volume of customer orders. Notably, robotic arms named Robin and Sparrow were introduced at the Robotics Innovation Hub near Boston, following an in-house design and manufacturing process.

Robin, described as one of Amazon’s most intricate stationary robot arm systems, aids in scanning and sorting packages for dispatch. Meanwhile, Sparrow is a cutting-edge robot that optimizes the fulfillment process.

The company also utilises Proteus and Hercules robot models for container movement, alongside the Sequoia robotic system, which goes further to sort and relocate containers, reducing physical strain on human staff. These machines alleviate strain on employees, minimising repetitive movements like bending and stretching.

According to Amazon, Sequoia boosts productivity by identifying and storing inventory 75 per cent faster than current employee capabilities, resulting in quicker listing of products on Amazon’s online marketplace. Additionally, Sequoia can save up to 25 per cent of order processing time once an order is placed, thereby improving lead times for shipping.

Amazon reports a 15 per cent decrease in incident rates and an 18% drop in 'lost-time incident rates' (instances of work-related injuries and subsequent time away from work) at its robotic sites in 2022 compared to non-robotic facilities.

Scott Dresser, VP of Amazon Robotics, emphasised how robots create opportunities for employees, challenging perceptions of AI's threat to workers.

“Ensuring robotics are collaborative and support employees is central to how we design or deploy systems like Sequoia and Digit,” he stated. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve rolled out hundreds of thousands of robotics systems while also creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs within our operations. This includes 700 categories of new job types, in skilled roles, which didn’t exist within the company beforehand.”

According to Amazon’s 2023 annual report, the company's expanding fleet of robots still pales in comparison to its total workforce of 1.525 million (combining full-time and part-time employees).