In 2012, Amazon acquired the robotics company Kiva. Since then, it has moved more than 100,000 Kiva robots into its network of 210 fulfillment and package-sorting centers. Now, writes The New York Times (March 19, 2018), many Amazon competitors are moving in the same direction, including shipping and logistics operations like FedEx and DHL. But what is happening at all 3 firms may be a surprise to people who fear that they are about to be replaced by a smart machine: a robot might take your role, but not necessarily your job.
Yes, the robots replace a few jobs right away (typically taking 25 jobs in a facility that employs 1,300 people). But warehouses create lots of new jobs every year — and a heavily robot work force still seems like the distant future. Inside Amazon the need for human labor is growing much faster than the robot work force. Since deploying its first robots, Amazon has expanded its work force by 300,000 people.
A control center inside a FedEx distribution hub
As people have become more comfortable buying online, big and bulky goods like car tires, canoes and boxes as big as a coffin have accounted for an increasing percentage of the packages flowing through distribution centers. These ungainly items can’t fit on a conveyor belt.
McKinsey recently predicted that about 1/3 of workers in the U.S. will have to switch occupations because of technology-driven automation by 2030. “What people underestimate is the time needed for this to happen,” said a McKinsey partner.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why can’t distribution centers be fully automated?
- What roles can robots play in distribution hubs?