About an hour outside of Boston, Amazon is developing the future of its warehouse operations within a 350,000-square-foot facility dedicated to its robotics division. This hub is where Amazon designs, tests, and manufactures advanced machines that are intended to work alongside employees in fulfillment centers, and potentially replace some roles in time.
Although Amazon is not traditionally associated with robotics expertise, the Washington-based corporation has discreetly invested billions in this technology over the past decade. This initiative began with the acquisition of Kiva Systems, a warehouse automation startup, for $775 million in 2012. Robotics has since become integral to Amazon’s goals of enhancing efficiency and safety, with an emphasis on creating autonomous, mobile machines capable of picking up and sorting packages.
In March, Amazon’s Massachusetts hub was visited following its 2023 opening as an extension of the original Kiva facilities, which are located about 50 miles away and remain operational. The company manages the entire design and manufacturing process internally, with programmers, hardware engineers, and testers collaborating under one roof to produce robots destined for deployment throughout Amazon’s international fulfillment network.
Joseph Quinlivan, the vice president of global robotics at Amazon, has been involved throughout the company’s robotics evolution, initially at Kiva before joining Amazon post-acquisition. He mentioned that Amazon retains a startup-like mentality that focuses on speed, avoiding bureaucratic slowdowns. Quinlivan offered insights into Amazon’s approach to robotic design, showcasing spaces for software engineers filled with whiteboards and overlooking vast factory floors. His favorite was Proteus, a robot resembling an oversized Roomba that autonomously transports bins with packages and can work in tandem with employees.
Robots such as Proteus are created to substitute for the repetitive tasks performed by warehouse workers. Safety is a paramount issue for Amazon, a $2 trillion company, especially after a Senate investigation led by Sen. Bernie Sanders highlighted alleged safety shortcomings within its fulfillment centers. The findings suggested injury rates nearly twice as high as the industry average. Amazon contested the results, calling them an attempt to manipulate data to support an inaccurate portrayal.
Quinlivan conceded that Amazon’s investment in robotics targets the “most challenging tasks” faced by employees, like lifting and moving items, prioritizing safety as a central element of these efforts. The newer machines aim to automate routine tasks significantly more than their predecessors.
There are concerns about automation potentially leading to job displacement. However, Amazon has reportedly invested over $1 billion in upskilling programs to train employees for different roles. Quinlivan indicated that these advancements are generating new job opportunities for individuals who might not otherwise have access to them.
Robotics is essential to Amazon’s strategy for accelerating the delivery process from customers’ online shopping carts to their doorsteps. Yet, as Amazon addresses claims related to worker safety and job displacement, its swiftly advancing robotics technology symbolizes the company’s unwavering ambition to enhance speed and productivity.
This narrative was initially published on Fortune.com.
