NORTH RANDALL, Ohio — Most of us don’t consider what happens after we log in to our Amazon accounts to place orders. We just wait, rather impatiently, for our products to arrive in 48 hours or less (depending on where we live).
Behind the scenes, there’s an important group of team members at Amazon facilities across the country who make sure technology is working in your favor. Yes, I’m talking about the robotics team.
Inside the fulfillment center we visited in North Randall, there are about a couple thousand Amazon robots that hastily and efficiently move products around the facility to help you get your order faster. Simply put, the robots have designated spaces in the building filled with products stored on pods.
The robots retrieve the pods and bring them to pickers who place them into totes. Then, the robot takes the pod back to its place. The robots navigate the floor using an array of sensors and cameras, coupled with barcodes on the floor to know where they are, and where they’re headed.
This saves time and manpower as employees don’t have to walk around to find products. Instead, the products come to them; they just have to "pick" them.
"Through [artificial intelligence], the robots follow the barcodes on the floor," said Barb Walukas, a robotics technician, as she referred to the space where robots work. "So it’s all caged in, and safer for our employees."
Walukas and the robotics team is responsible for maintaining the bots and making sure the floor they operate on is in good shape.
Every once in a while, a robot loses its position or has a mechanical issue. That’s when Walukas’ work becomes critical, but assuming everything is running smoothly, the robots handle the bulk of the work when it comes to locating products in the building.
"The robots go and find the pod, get the pod, and bring it to [the pickers]. From there it is picked," she said. "[Then] it goes through the conveyers and out to the other side of the building for shipping."
Across Amazons roughly 185 fulfillment centers, there are about 200,000 robots in operation.
"It makes it safer, it makes it easier, and more efficient for the employees," said Walukas.
Walukas was trained by Amazon to do this job. And says you can do it too. Then you will also play an integral role in getting packages to customers quickly.