Amazon has unveiled its most technologically advanced fulfillment center yet in Shreveport, Louisiana. The facility, one of Amazon’s largest, employs ten times more robots than previous designs and utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to orchestrate the activities of eight different robot models.
The company’s blog post revealed that this is the first time they have integrated technology solutions into all key production areas. This allows employees to work seamlessly alongside the growing fleet of robotic systems, a feat previously unattainable.
The Shreveport Site: A New Benchmark in Warehouse Design
The Shreveport site, spanning over 3 million square feet across five floors, is equivalent to 55 football fields. Once fully operational, it will employ 2,500 workers. The facility relies on eight different robot models, each playing a crucial role in the warehouse operations.
At the heart of the facility is Sequoia, a multilevel containerized inventory system capable of holding over 30 million items. This is five times larger than Amazon’s first deployment of the system in Houston, Texas.
AI-Powered Robots: The Future of Fulfillment
As inventory and packages move through the facility, an AI-powered trio of robotic arms named Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow sort, stack, and consolidate millions of items and customer orders. The latest version of Sparrow uses computer vision and AI systems, enabling it to handle over 200 million unique products of varying shapes, sizes, and weights.
Proteus, Amazon’s first fully autonomous mobile robot, navigates carts of packages to the site’s outbound dock for loading into trucks, safely maneuvering around employees in open spaces. The remaining three robot models include larger AMRs called Hercules and Titan and a packaging automation system that creates custom-sized packages to fit each order’s dimensions.
Automation Enhancing, Not Replacing, Jobs
Despite the increased automation, Amazon maintains that it is not replacing workers’ jobs. The company expects its headcount to continue to grow, with next-generation fulfillment centers and sites with advanced robotics requiring 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance, and engineering roles.
Amazon also offers training for skilled jobs through its corporate “Career Choice program” and a “mechatronics and robotics apprenticeship,” providing hourly wages up to 40% higher than entry-level roles.
