Warehouse Robotics In Amazon Fulfillment Centers

In some fulfillment centers, robots work alongside human workers. Conceptually, the
“chaotic” process is the same, but the robots add some speed. For example, in robot-
equipped fulfillment centers, robots bring shelves to workers instead of workers looking
for shelves. It’s essentially a faster version of Amazon’s randomized putaway system.

How Amazon’s Sortation Centers Keep The System

Moving
In sortation centers, prepared and sealed customer packages move through conveyor
belts, are routed based on their destination zip code, and are eventually shipped to post
offices. The purpose is to get packages to customers faster and address the challenges
of same-day delivery.
While the goal of these sortation facilities is admirable, the inner workings of these
centers are beyond impressive.

In one such center in the Denver area, robots known as “drives” carry packages. Once
a worker places a package on a robot, the robot reads the barcode and then takes off to
one of the 300-plus rectangular holes in the floor, which represent zip codes. The
package slides off the robot’s back and down a chute where it’s loaded onto a truck and
is out for delivery.

There are also human workers who carry out this process. They grab packages, quickly
look at the address, and walk them over to the appropriate chute. It’s easy to see how
the robots speed up the process of sorting packages, and they even politely pause to
make room for other robots, avoiding collisions and potential damage to products. The
entire system is calibrated by experts who run a series of simulations to determine the
exact speed at which the robots move and which robots get the right of way. 

Whereas fulfillment centers consist of workers who can use their human dexterity to
pick up different-sized items and sort them (a skill robots struggle with), sorting centers
consist of “mules” that quickly move these packaged items to their appropriate shipping
truck. 

The fulfillment centers and the sortation centers address two key system challenges:
Finding goods and getting them on the road quickly. 

What Is The Amazon System for FBA Customers?

There’s another dimension to Amazon’s system: managing goods for its Fulfillment by
Amazon (FBA) customers. 

Since Amazon has one of the most sophisticated fulfillment systems in the world, it
makes sense that other businesses would pay to leverage it. As a result, Amazon offers
the FBA service where it picks, packs, and ships a business’s products on their behalf. 

Here’s how Amazon receives and manages an FBA customer’s products:

 Packages (properly sealed and with the appropriate labels) are received
 An Amazon associate scans the shipping label on the package to match it to a
shipment ID in the system and to verify that it’s at the right fulfillment center
 An Amazon associate opens the shipping box to remove the goods
 An Amazon associate verifies that each individual item in the box has a
scannable barcode
 An Amazon associate inspects each item to assess whether it needs additional
packaging to prevent damage either during storage or during outbound shipment
 Products are sent to the receiving station
  An associate at the receiving station performs a “six-sided check” to ensure the
item isn’t damaged
 An associate at the receiving station performs a title verification 
 Once these steps are completed, the item is officially received
 The unit gets routed to be stowed

This is the process if everything goes smoothly.  However, there are cases where a
shipment must be put aside and dealt with by an Amazon problem solver. When an
Amazon problem solver has to address an issue, it delays the receipt of items and their
submission into the system by anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days.

How To Properly Prepare and Manage Your Amazon

Inventory As An FBA Customer
If you use FBA and want your items to move smoothly through the process, be mindful
of the company’s prep, labeling, and packing requirements.

 Make sure to put goods into right box by using automated package type selection
algorithms to optimize shipping cost.
 Make sure your goods are packaged properly and are e-commerce ready.
 Don’t tape or band together multiple boxes.
 Shipping boxes shouldn’t have any other scannable barcodes aside from the
shipping label.
 Place shipping labels over flat surfaces. (If you place the shipping label over the
box’s seam, it can be damaged during shipping or when the associate has to
open the box.)
 If possible use packing slips to improve accuracy.
 Use foam, air pillows, or full sheets of paper as packing material or dunnage.
(Using dunnage like packing peanuts or shredding paper slows down the
receiving process.)
 Ensure case-packed units only have barcodes on the individual units and not on
the outer carton so that multiple items aren’t received as one unit. 

Understanding how Amazon’s FBA system service works (and prepping your goods
accordingly) ensures that your products are entered into the system in a timely fashion. 

Amazon Inventory System Presents Opportunities and

Lessons For Any Business Owner
Whether you want to learn from Amazon or use its logistics system to distribute your
goods, there are plenty of  lessons to soak up. The retailer has bucked standard
management wisdom and re-invented how workers pick, pack, and ship products.
Moreover, it’s invited other business owners to piggyback on its proven methods and
grow their businesses as well. 

No matter your relationship with Amazon,