Robotics – The OM Blog by Heizer, Render, & Munson

OM in the News: The Robotics Supply Chain

The next 20 years are not just about making robots better, but also about how they will be used in all sorts of industries, from small tests to big factories. The real challenge is having specialized engineering skills, great manufacturing, and dominating software, reports Industry Week (March 11, 2026).

There are 6 key areas that make all the difference in this industry. Here is a breakdown of the cost of the parts that go into a robot:

1. Actuators & Gearboxes (35-40%): The physical muscle.

2. Robot Structure / Manipulators (15-20%): The physical frame and integration.

3. Sensors & Perception (10-15%): The eyes and ears.

4. AI Compute / Control (10-15%): The operational brain.

5. Battery / Power Systems (10-15%): The energy storage for mobile units.

6. Precision Motion Components (5-10%): The components required for fine movements.

This list shows that a robotics breakthrough isn’t just software advances; it depends on physical components and the supply chains that produce them. But there are 3 chokepoints (bottlenecks).

#1: Precision Reducers, controlled by Japan. Robots can’t move with a lot of power and precision without special parts (harmonic and cycloidal reducers). Two companies in Japan make 70% of these parts used all over the world. Spending more money won’t allow other companies to make these parts, because they need special knowledge about metals and years of experience making precise parts.

#2: AI Compute (The Intelligence Standard), controlled by the U.S. Today’s robots, especially those that use reinforcement learning, need powerful computers to work properly. NVIDIA’s CUDA system has become the leading platform used by robots that learn and think. Making a better chip is not enough if you can’t replace the software that all robotics engineers already use.

#3: Battery Supply Chain, controlled by China. Robots are changing from big, stationary machines to mobile ones. This means batteries are now a crucial part of making them work. One company in China, CATL, controls 1/3 of the world’s battery market. China has a very strong grip on this supply chain.

The global map of robotics is specialized. There is a multi-polar supply chain that is difficult to disrupt:

USA: “The “Brain.” (software, autonomy, AI compute).

Japan: The “Hardware King.” (motors, gearboxes, precision engineering).

Germany: The “Precision Engineer.” ( mechanical systems, high-end production).

China: The “Scale & Power.” (manufacturing speed, massive infrastructure, battery supremacy).

Taiwan: The “Linear Specialist.” ( The linear guides and ball screws essential for motion).

Classroom discussion questions:

Why must operations managers understand these costs and bottlenecks?
What are the supply chain implications?

OM Podcast #44: Inside the Cold Storage Industry with Dr. Anna Johnson

Happy New Year! In our first episode of 2026, Professors Barry Render and Misty Blessley sit down with Dr. Anna Johnson, Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Strategy at U.S. Cold Storage, to explore the fascinating world of temperature-controlled logistics.

Dr. Johnson explains how third-party logistics providers keep America’s food supply safe and efficient, why 98% of U.S. food storage is outsourced, and how sustainability initiatives like anaerobic digestion are reducing food waste.

Prof . Misty Blessley

The conversation also dives into industry trends—from the surge in capacity during COVID to the current state of the market—and highlights how AI, robotics, and digital twins are transforming operations, and creating new roles for skilled workers in this evolving sector.

Heizer Render Munson OM Podcast · OM Podcast #44: Inside the Cold Storage Industry with Dr. Anna Johnson

Read the full transcript

Have you subscribed to this podcast on Apple Podcasts? Just open your Apple Podcasts app, search “Heizer Render Munson OM Podcast,” and subscribe to get all our episodes delivered straight to your device!

OM in the News: AI Is Mining Our Trash for Treasure

Here’s a job the computers can take without much complaint: sorting recyclables. For humans, it is a foul, laborious job that entails standing over a conveyor belt, plucking beer cans and detergent bottles from a stream of refuse. The job pays little and is hard to fill.

At one recycling facility near Hartford, machines are taking over the dirtiest jobs, reports The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 8, 2026). A few workers remain on the line, mostly to watch for hazardous items. Otherwise, the system of conveyors, magnets, optical sorters and pneumatic blocks runs largely unmanned. The technology allows them to sort up to 60 tons an hour of curbside recycling into precisely sorted bales of paper, plastic, aluminum cans and other materials. The material is sold to mills, manufacturers and remelt facilities, which pay more for cleaner bales.

AI is used to instantly spot recyclables and send instructions to machinery down the line at to remove them.

Watching over it all are computers that analyze material as it passes by at 7 mph. The devices use AI to identify recyclables, flag food-grade material, gauge items’ mass, assess market value and calculate points at which a robotic claw might best clasp each piece.

The U.S. 50% aluminum tariff has lifted demand for scrap metal, while pulp mill closures have left box makers more reliant than ever on old corrugated containers. And consumer goods companies want to reclaim their bottles as states adopt extended producer responsibility laws aimed at reducing plastic pollution.

Part of the problem: Americans’ poor recycling habits are an obstacle to profit. A lot of beer cans and delivery boxes never even make it to sorting centers. A study in Virginia’s waste stream showed that 28% was recyclable, yet the system was stuck at a recycling rate of about 7% no matter how much it spent trying to teach people how and what to recycle.

The big breakthrough in recycling technology has been combining vision recognition systems with pneumatic blocks. Using puffs of air to separate items has proved much faster and more accurate than robotic pickers, which are limited to about 40 items a minute, compared with thousands for pneumatic system.

Classroom discussion questions:

Why has recycling been so inefficient?
Should job loss through automation be a concern?

OM in the News: Robots Are Remaking Chinese Industry

Sam Altman wants AI to cure cancer. Elon Musk says AI robots will eliminate poverty. China is focused on something more prosaic: making better washing machines. While China’s long-term AI goals are no less ambitious than ours, its near-term priority is to shore up its role as the world’s factory floor for decades to come, reports The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 25, 2025).

Midea, an appliance maker, deploys robots to work under an AI ‘factory brain’ that acts as a central nervous system for its plant in Jingzhou.

The Chinese push is fueled by billions of dollars in government and private development– transforming every step of making and exporting goods. A clothing designer reports slashing the time it takes to make a sample by more than 70% with AI. Washing machines in China’s hinterland are being churned out under the command of an AI “factory brain.”

Port shipping containers whiz about on self-driving trucks with virtually no workers in sight, while the port’s scheduling is run by AI.

Chinese executives liken the future of factories to living organisms that can increasingly think and act for themselves, moving beyond the preprogrammed tasks at traditionally-automated factories. This could further enable the spread of “dark factories,” with operations so automated that work happens around the clock with the lights dimmed.

The advances can’t come quickly enough for China as its population is shrinking, young people are avoiding factory jobs, and pushback against Chinese exports has intensified.

AI offers a lifeline to head off those risks, by helping China make and ship more stuff faster, cheaper and with fewer workers. China wants to deploy what is available today quicker than the U.S. can, locking in any advantages. It installed 295,000 industrial robots last year, 9 times as many as the U.S. and more than the rest of the world combined. Its stock of operational robots surpassed 2 million in 2024

Today, China’s average factory wages are far higher than in countries such as India. Many young Chinese are unwilling to work in factories. The shortage of skilled labor in key manufacturing sectors could reach 30 million this year. Since most Chinese are optimistic about AI, this allows the government to deploy the technology quickly. About 83% of Chinese believe AI-powered products and services are more beneficial than harmful, double the level in the U.S.

Classroom discussion questions:

Why the push for robotics and AI in China?
What can the U.S. and Europe do to remain competitive?

OM in the News: Amazon’s AI-Robotics Warehouse Revolution

Amazon is rapidly transforming its e-commerce fulfillment operations through a bold integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, reports The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 23, 2025). The company’s vision is clear: make human workers more efficient while automating repetitive, menial tasks. At the heart of this shift is Amazon’s Shreveport, Louisiana facility, which now boasts ten times as many robots as a typical warehouse. This leap in automation enables packages to move through the system 25% faster, with anticipated cost savings passed on to customers.

Safety and efficiency are top priorities. Robots now handle tasks such as sorting packages, transporting carts, and retrieving out-of-reach items. Amazon is also investing in its workforce, offering apprenticeships to train employees in managing these advanced systems. The company’s latest innovations include Blue Jay, a robot arm designed for sorting in tight spaces, and Eluna, an AI agent that helps managers optimize staffing and avoid bottlenecks. Blue Jay’s rapid development—just over a year, compared to 3 years for previous models—was made possible by generative AI, which allowed for virtual prototyping.

The company aims to deploy Blue Jay robots in urban, space-constrained warehouses, enabling same-day delivery networks that are both faster and more cost-effective.

These advances could save Amazon billions annually. By the end of next year, nearly 40 fulfillment centers will be equipped with robots, with an estimated to $4 billion in yearly cost reductions. This automation trend is expected to reduce the need for both warehouse and white-collar workers. In fact, the average number of workers per facility dropped to around 670 in 2024, the lowest in 16 years.

Amazon is testing augmented-reality glasses

Amazon’s automation push extends beyond warehouses. Augmented-reality glasses are being tested for delivery drivers, helping them identify packages and navigate routes more efficiently.

Amazon’s journey began with its $775 million acquisition of Kiva Systems in 2012. Today, three-quarters of its deliveries involve some form of robotic assistance. The company’s latest announcements—Blue Jay, Eluna, and AR glasses—signal a new era where AI and robotics are supercharging logistics, reshaping the future of retail fulfillment.

Classroom discussion questions:

How does Eluna work?
Why is Amazon trying to eliminate warehouse jobs?

OM in the News: Amazon’s New Robotic Warehouse and Humans

Amazon just opened its most-automated warehouse yet. But underneath the robotics and artificial-intelligence technology at the site, the facility will still rely on thousands of employees, writes The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 7, 2024). The 3 million-square-foot building in Shreveport, La., is Amazon’s first warehouse to use automation and AI at every step of the fulfillment process and be able to handle one million orders a day.

Amazon’s Sparrow device uses suction cups to lift items and artificial intelligence software to identify objects by color, shape and size

The facility shows how companies are spreading automation through their distribution centers to get online orders to consumers at an ever faster pace. The sprawling site also demonstrates the challenges Amazon and other companies face as they seek to turn over some of the most physically demanding and repetitive warehouse tasks to robots.

Amazon hired more than 1,400 people at the Shreveport distribution center and plans to eventually employ 2,500 workers picking orders, loading and unloading trucks and managing the robotics systems. The idea is to speed up operations, save on labor costs and make warehouses safer for the workers that remain. Amazon has been the subject of government scrutiny over the treatment of the workers at its facilities. The warehousing sector had one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses in the U.S., with 4.7 cases recorded per 100 workers compared with the national average of 2.4 cases per 100 workers.

Some traditional warehouse roles have proved too difficult for Amazon to fully automate, however, partly because the company sells more than 400 million widely varied products that range in size, weight and fragility, from dog toys to toaster ovens. Humans can easily look into a storage container packed full of goods, identify a particular item and know how to pick it up and handle it, whether it is a bottle of shampoo or a sweater.

“The tactile grasp that the human hand has, and the situational awareness and the perception of the human brain, is unmatched,” said Amazon’s chief technologist. Instead, robots at the facility carry storage containers full of merchandise to human employees who look inside and pick out the item a customer ordered, then place that item into a tote box that goes onto a conveyor belt and is taken to be packaged.

Classroom discussion questions:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of automating warehouses?
Why do warehouses have high injury rates?

OM in the News: Gary, The Hospital Robot

Gary works in a hospital. He does a lot of fetching and carrying. He cleans and sanitizes. He also chats to patients, acts as a translator and records and transcribes doctors’ consultations. He works every shift available, he never calls in sick, and he doesn’t stop for a coffee, a cigarette or a bathroom break. But he does need time to recharge his batteries – literally.

Gary is even being trained to clean toilets.

Gary is a robot, designed and built by Israel-based Unlimited Robotics. Since the start of this year a dozen Garys have been working at two of Israel’s largest hospitals. And 10 Garys just began working at a hospital in Philadelphia. The US is a huge target market for the company.

Gary is one answer to a global recruitment crisis in healthcare facilities. There simply aren’t enough people willing to work in a hospital when they can get a job in Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or McDonald’s for the same money. By 2030, writes Israel21c (July 25, 2024), the problem will be so acute that there will be a shortfall of 18 million health workers globally.

Gary costs around $30,000, which is less than a year’s salary for a typical US hospital worker. Except that Gary works a 140-hour week with no vacations.

There are many opportunities for Gary, but Unlimited Robotics decided concentrate on the huge demand from hospitals both in Israel and the US.

Gary is autonomous, which means he takes “initiative” rather than relying on minute-by-minute instructions. He also has two arms, whereas most robots have just one because coordination of two simultaneously is exceptionally complicated. And he’s adaptable. Most robots are designed for a single task, but Gary can quickly pick up new skills thanks to an open-source platform that allows software developers with no prior experience of robotics to build applications.

Gary provides a range of services in healthcare facilities, for example meeting the constant demand for bed linens, water, medical devices and other items so that medical personnel can spend more time treating patients. Gary also engages selected geriatric patients in conversation, to maintain or improve their cognitive capabilities. He recognizes them and (using AI) personalizes every conversation. Eight out of 10 patients say they are happy to chat to a robot. (Clicking on the article link allows you to watch a video of Gary in action).

Classroom discussion questions:

What other tasks can Gary be eventually trained to do?
What non-hospital opportunities exist for Gary?

OM in the News: Meet The Robot Butcher

Meatpacking jobs can be some of the toughest, bloodiest and most dangerous around, and companies such as Smithfield, Tyson Foods, and Cargill have long struggled to fully staff slaughterhouses and processing plants. Workers might have to stand for hours a day, often in cold temperatures, repeatedly slicing livestock carcasses on fast-moving processing lines or moving heavy boxes of frozen meat. The companies have sought for years to recruit enough workers and to run their plants at full strength.

A system at Cargill’s beef-processing plant scans meat for bones and other undesirable materials as it passes through the production line

So meatpackers are increasingly looking to robots for help, writes The Wall Street Journal (April 10, 2024). Smithfield, the largest U.S. pork processor, began rolling out automated rib pullers at its pork plants several years ago, which company officials said helps leave less wasted meat on the bone and relieves workers from some of the industry’s most physically demanding jobs—allowing workers to be reassigned from pulling loins or ribs to food-quality inspection jobs.

Taking hourly workers off the processing line and training them to work with robots that require more technical skills can be challenging for meat companies and employees. Tyson is working with a local community colleges to create a pipeline of potential workers.

Tyson has installed more computers and X-ray inspection technology throughout its facilities to detect bones and other undesirable materials in products. Cargill now operates automated rib-chine saws that cleave off the spine from the carcass, and machine hock-cutters that chop the front off shanks, the part of the leg between the knee and the beef carcass. (Automation has been an industry ambition for some time, especially among processors of chickens—which tend to be smaller, more uniform in size and easier for a machine to handle).

Classroom discussion questions:

Why is staffing so difficult at meat packers?
Identify other potential applications of technology in this industry.

OM in the News: Robots Are Looking Better to Detroit

United Auto Workers (UAW) members recently approved a labor contract with Ford, General Motors, and Jeep maker Stellantis that included a record 25% wage increase over 4 years and marked the sharpest labor-cost increase for the companies in recent memory. The auto makers did avoid a strike, but the longer term cost was great, reports The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 15, 2024).

Robots weld the body of a Model Y EV at a Tesla factory

The effect from the deals in Detroit quickly rippled through the industry, with Toyota, Hyundai and other nonunionized automakers increasing wages to stay competitive. The contracts were richer than Detroit had planned for, and the auto makers are strategizing ways to blunt the increased costs. Ford said the new terms would add $900 in cost per vehicle by 2028.

So the firms are looking to an old friend to help offset rising labor costs: robots. For decades, car companies increased automation inside their factories. Now, they are looking even more seriously at this approach, to address the rising labor bill and take advantage of more sophisticated technology. Competition from newcomers like Tesla, which has been more aggressive in deploying robots, is also nudging more traditional auto manufacturers in this direction.

The global auto industry is a top consumer of robots, having installed 136,000 new industrial robotic units in 2022. Often these so-called cobots work alongside workers to access hard-to-reach spots or perform tasks that are particularly physically demanding.

Dozens of new battery and EV plants in the works will also open the door to broader use of high-tech systems. It is easier and less costly to install robots in a new facility versus retrofitting an existing one. Plus, it is more streamlined to have updated systems that “speak” to each other smoothly, as opposed to popping in a new machine among older ones.

The UAW may have attained major wage increases, but the trend is making its members nervous about the prospect of machines replacing jobs. “The companies have used technology as a way to cut jobs instead of interjecting robots and technology to make our jobs easier,” says the UAW president.

There are risks to automating. Adding robots to a process for the first time can introduce quality problems. And whatever machines gain in terms of productivity can be zeroed out by the needed personnel to fix or program robots.

Classroom discussion questions:
1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of robotics in the auto industry.
2. What is Tesla’s edge?

OM in the News: Can AI Rescue Recycling?

Recyclers across the U.S. are struggling, hurt by a shortage of workers and rising costs that too often make recycling uneconomic. They are hoping, writes The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 9, 2023), that artificial intelligence can help turn things around and boost recycling rates.

How can AI help? By doing the sorting work that a dwindling number of people want to do—and doing it better. AI-driven robots pick up recyclable trash at around 80 pieces a minute; people can sort 50-80 pieces a minute. Optical sorters, a more established technology that’s growing more efficient thanks to improved AI, are much faster, sorting up to 1,000 pieces a minute.

Staffing shortages mean sorting sites can’t operate at full capacity. (Sites are often only 80% staffed and sometimes as little as 20%). In the long run, sorting machines are cheaper than human labor. Recyclers typically recoup their investment in robotic systems in two years. Around 32% of the sorting centers in the U.S. are now using robotics, up from less than 5% in 2019.

Optical sorting machines are in most of the large facilities. They use sensors and lights to rapidly find what is recyclable on a conveyor belt of mixed materials. When recyclable materials are identified, the machines fire a burst of compressed air at them to sort them into bins.

Waste Management, the biggest recycler in the U.S., is betting on AI as part of its goal to boost its recovery of recyclable materials 60% by 2030. It is investing $1 billion in recycling infrastructure including 40 recycling centers through 2026, with a big portion going to automation and AI. An automated WM plant has 4-6 people sorting along with the machines, compared with 50 employees at a nonautomated facility.

Republic Services, the second-biggest waste-and-recycling company, is investing in robots as part of its goal to recycle 40% more key materials by 2030, including cardboard, metal, paper and plastics. The company plans to have robotics at 20% of its 74 sorting centers in 2024, up from 10% today.

Still, AI brings its own challenges. Robots require upfront spending and equipment that needs frequent maintenance and upgrades. The cost for a single robot ranges from $150,000 to $300,000. Building or upgrading a recycling center around optical sorters is even more expensive than robots. Optical sorting systems cost $1-2 million each.

Classroom discussion questions:

Recycling of municipal solid wastes has actually dropped in recent years. Why?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of AI in this field?

OM in the News: Sweetgreen Hires Kale-Shooting Robots to Speed Up Service

“The key to shorter lines and higher profits at one restaurant chain: a salad-making robot,” writes The Wall Street Journal (Oct 17, 2023). Fast-casual chain Sweetgreen opened its first restaurant staffed by a proprietary robot that shoots kale, cheese and other ingredients down tubes into bowls traveling on a conveyor belt. A handful of employees add finishing touches, such as spiced cashews.

Sweetgreen’s proprietary robotics system

The system can slash the number of workers and time it takes Sweetgreen to make a bowl by more than half. Eventually, the company intends for salad-making robots to staff all of its new restaurants, working alongside human employees. Sweetgreen is preparing to center future restaurants around the system, which can take up 10% of the location’s floor space, with workers preparing ingredients for its tubes and others dispensing the meals it makes.

“A lot of other companies are trying to figure out how to add automation to their experience and are not willing to start over,” said the CEO. “I’m willing to blow the whole thing up.” (Sweetgreen’s robotics bet is bigger than others, and so is its need. The pandemic crippled the chain’s mainly urban operations, driving same-store sales down 26% in 2020).

Restaurant chains are striving to become more efficient as food, labor and other costs remain high, and staffing tight. The chains for years have experimented with automation, though robotics haven’t taken off as they have in manufacturing and retail. Chopping lettuce and flipping burgers involves working with soft, squishy ingredients and a variety of tasks that are hard for a machine to duplicate. It took Sweetgreen engineers two years to design a robot that could squirt dressing to order, apportion eggs and handle soft ingredients, some of which initially got stuck in the machine’s tubes.

Chili’s is scrutinizing operations down to the way workers prepare shrimp, while Wendy’s studies workers’ footsteps to design more efficient kitchens. White Castle is expanding its test of a “Flippy” robot that fries potatoes, onions and other food to more restaurants. Casual dining chain Kura Sushi uses robots to apportion rice for rolls, helping to reduce its need for sushi chefs. McDonald’s tested a robotic fryer in 2019 but eventually shelved it.

Classroom discussion questions:

1.What are the strengths and weaknesses of this robotic approach?

2. Why do robots not work as well at McDonald’s?

OM in the News: Walmart’s Warehouse of the Future

Leland Geiger transitioned from unloading trucks manually to using an autonomous forklift

Walmart is in the process of automating or partially automating many of its hundred-plus U.S. warehouses in the coming years. The shift means Walmart can use fewer people to process more goods and make stocking shelves at stores more efficient. To keep their jobs, many of the company’s tens of thousands of warehouse workers need to retrain for new roles. Some will leave. Warehouses will also need to hire people with new skills, such as technicians.

Large companies such as Walmart and Amazon that rely on massive warehousing networks have worked for years to automate more of their supply chains to increase the volume of packages they can process and reduce labor costs, writes The Wall Street Journal (July 29, 2023). Because of Walmart’s scale, its plan to make automation standard in more of its supply chain is likely to affect how smaller competitors invest in their own facilities and what a U.S. warehouse job becomes.

“What this technology does for us is increases capacity, increases the accuracy of our loads, increases the speed of the supply chain and lowers cost,” said the VP of supply chain for Walmart. It is “also completely reshaping the way that our associates work within the distribution center.”

In Walmart’s Central Florida warehouse, as sections of robotic arms and screens are gradually installed across the more than 1–million–square-foot facility, some of its 900 workers say they are skeptical about transitioning to new roles that require different skills. Transferring from unloading trucks manually to what Walmart calls an “automated cell operator” is easier physically but harder mentally.

Skepticism and fear of layoffs among workers are common when a warehouse first transitions to automation. Many workers are excited about a new challenge, but others leave. Employers automate, in part, to cut labor costs, so losing some workers during the process helps avoid the need for layoffs. At warehouses, managers are emphasizing that the new roles require less manual labor and offer more mental stimulation and potential longevity. Some of the jobs offer a pathway to higher-paying automation roles such as systems operators.

Classroom discussion questions:

What are the advantages of an automated warehouse such as the one in Florida?
Disadvantages?

OM in the News: Robotic Harvesting Systems are Revolutionizing Farming

As we suggest in our text, the trade off between labor and capital investment is ongoing.

The growing demand for food supply that derives from the continuously increasing population has made agricultural productivity growth an important priority. Labor availability pressure driven by demographics of an aging population, increasing urbanization, climate change and land degradation, as well as certain limitations regarding the arable land availability push forward slowly but steadily, the use of advanced agricultural technologies.

Incorporating such technologies into agricultural production benefits the overall productivity and in turn supports the economic development and growth. (For details, see this new 29 page report titled “A Survey of Robotic Harvesting Systems and Enabling Technologies.”) Additionally, automation in agriculture helps improve the difficult work conditions of farmers and agricultural workers that are generally linked to various musculoskeletal disorders.

Functionalities and hardware typically required by an operating agricultural robot harvester include: (a) vision systems, (b) motion planning/navigation methodologies (for the robotic platform and/or arm), (c) Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI) strategies with 3D visualization, (d) system operation planning and grasping strategies and (e) robotic end-effector/gripper design.

Application of robotic solutions for crop monitoring and harvesting has significant beneficial effects on production profits, enabling faster and easier automated harvest and increasing crop quality and yield. So the development of robotic technologies and their application in agriculture is becoming a growing topic of operations management interest.

Classroom discussion questions:

Summarize some of the applications noted in this video and report.
Why is this an operations management issue?

Video Tip: Feeding Delta Airlines’ Passengers

Airlines know passengers aren’t picking flights because they prefer one carrier’s short rib to a rival’s ravioli. And most coach passengers on domestic flights still have to pay if they want more than a small snack, although complimentary meals are available on a handful of the longest cross-country flights.

But food is a key part of the passenger experience, and airlines have been making investments in recent years. That includes partnering with outside chefs, offering more choices and mining data on passengers’ likes and dislikes.

Even with changes, don’t expect Michelin to start awarding stars. Feeding customers at 35,000 feet brings challenges terrestrial restaurants don’t have to deal with.

Dishes need to hold up after being chilled and reheated in flight. Flight attendants, who handle final food prep, are busy and are not chefs. And even gourmet food suffers in flight, where low air pressure and dry air dull flavors.

But let’s take an inside look at how Delta Airlines uses operations management processes to make it work. In this 4 and 1/2-minute video click here we can watch the story as told by The Wall Street Journal on March 31, 2023. We see that at Delta’s largest kitchen facility at its hub in Atlanta, teams must cook, package and transport 3,200 meals a day for the airline’s first-class passengers.

Today’s airline meals, of course, do not compare to the 1950s and 1960s, which was dubbed the “golden age of air travel,” when multi-course meals and alcohol were served on board to economy fliers, as we see in the photo.

Classroom discussion questions:

What technology is Delta employing?
How does it handle scheduling for delivery to flites?
What is the facility’s layout?

OM in the News: Amazon’s Robotics Ambitions

In the Amazon warehouse outside of Boston, a yellow-plated, gooseneck-like mechanical arm stretched and plucked a plastic jar holding a powdered drink mix out of a yellow box. The new device rose up, spun around with a loud whirring sound and gently placed the jar a few feet away into a gray bin. It twisted again toward the yellow box and soon after grabbed a DVD case, a very different shape, before pivoting quickly again to drop the item into an adjacent bin.

These actions are executed rapidly and smoothly, just like the countless movements that workers undertake to pick and pack millions of online orders each day in warehouses across the world.

But the robotic device, known as Sparrow, is outfitted with suction cups and artificial intelligence software rather than the eyes and hands of humans. It is Amazon’s attempt to automate more of its warehousing operations by turning some of the most physically challenging and repetitive tasks over to robots, reports The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 20, 2022).

Warehouse workers pick items up, sort them and put them down millions of times a day. But Amazon is trying to get Sparrow to do something that robots have long struggled with—picking up a variety of objects as easily as humans can, as well as identifying them by characteristics such as color, shape and size.

Amazon has been criticized for the tough requirements it imposes on workers in the name of efficiency. Warehouse workers there risk of developing repetitive-stress injuries and musculoskeletal disorders (a topic in Chapter 10). Sparrow is meant to be the next step in that safety process. The robot “is going to help really transform our network in those repetitive motion challenges we have,” said Amazon’s VP.

If Sparrow can eventually on a large scale handle items as varied as vitamins, Apple watchbands and packaged board games, it could carry Amazon’s stalling logistics operations forward during a period of cost-cutting across the company. Sparrow can handle millions of items that represent about 65% of Amazon’s total inventory. The process of picking orders accounts for roughly half the labor costs at warehouses. “That really is the kind of Holy Grail and the last final frontier of automation,” said an industry expert.

Classroom discussion questions:

What other robotic advances has Amazon conducted in the past decade? (Hint: see the Chapter 12 Global Company Profile that features Amazon)
Will robots replace workers at Amazon centers? Why or why not?