Amazon's robotics leader, Scott Anderson, was offering a hand-held tour of his Baltimore warehouse to a handful of US journalists - a visit that focused on beating the myth that Amazon would be "on the run." point "to replace all employees of its warehouses by machines. Scott Anderson has confirmed that the firm is exploring various technologies to automate package management from the vendor to the customer. But the technology is not yet ready: "in the current form, the technology is very limited. Technology is far from an automated workstation that we would need, "said the head of Reuters.
Amazon does not yet have the technology to replace its employees with robots
And to add: "Imagine bananas. I want firm bananas, but others prefer them ripe. How do you make a robot make the right choice? ". Scott Anderson says that fresh food warehouses, in particular, are still reluctant to any kind of robotization. Amazon is starting to use robots in its warehouses - those that store more classic objects like lamps, bluetooth speakers, etc. - but still massively relies on manpower: Amazon manages 110 warehouses in the United States, 45 sorting centers and about 50 delivery points. In total, this represents 125,000 full-time jobs.
The latter are not immediately threatened by the firm's robotic ambitions - which has just made same-day delivery free for Premium subscribers in the United States and which targets a 4-hour delay between the order and the time when the item leaves the warehouse. According to Scott Anderson, this will be achieved by optimizing transportation and delivery, rather than by productivity adjustments in the warehouses. Even if the workforce working at Amazon is not directly threatened by robotization, the situation could change in a few years. Scott Anderson has notably launched the technology puts Amazon "at least 10 years" of a complete robotization.
A "medium term" horizon, more than "long term" that seems to indicate that even if Amazon does not yet have the technological means, it will certainly be one of the first companies to replace its employees with machines. What do you think ? Share your opinion in the comments.
