Amazon Opening First Robot Fulfillment Center in Australia

Amazon’s robots are finally coming to Australia. The company recently announced that it has begun construction on a 2-million square-foot facility in Sydney, which will house up to 11 million items. While the new fulfillment center will create 1,500 jobs, the backbone will be it’s robot workers.

One robot has arms with grips that identify and grab totes from conveyor belts and stack them on pallets for shipping or stowing. Another type of robotic arm lifts pallets of inventory to different levels or places them on drive units to be carried to their next destination. The drive unit robot autonomously transports packages around facilities. AI technology will also be used to move shelves for employees to reduce picking time for orders.

Amazon Robot Facility Will Double Footprint in Australia

Amazon Australia first launched in December 2017 and now has locations in places such as Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. The new robot powered facility in Sydney will more than double the company’s footprint in the country. Construction is expected to be completed towards the end of 2021.

Amazon operates more than 175 fulfillment centers worldwide, 50 of them with robotics capability, and more than 40 sort centers. Using robots allow the centers to store 40% more inventory and makes it easier to fulfill Prime orders on time. 

Check out our articles on robots helping elderly keep connected in Belgium and the Bahamas using facial recognition to detect COVID-19.