If a robot can do it better: Amazon’s pragmatic approach to robotization
Amazon has announced that its humanoid robot, Digit, is joining the army of more than 700,000 automatons already used in its warehouses, unleashing speculation that it intends to automate all its processes, potentially replacing humans.
The new, two-legged robots will be tasked with moving containers with orders between racks and conveyor belts, sendingthem to their human co-workers to carry out packaging and labeling.
Amazon is an extremely pragmatic company that only automates if so doing is more efficient than using human labor: at its San Fernando de Henares depot in Madrid, which I know well because I have taken my students there many times, the level of automation is extremely low: there are no robots of any kind, just people and lots of conveyor belts, and according to the company, this will continue to be the case as long as the warehouse’s operational statistics remain optimal.
In other Amazon warehouses in Spain Kiva-designed robots have been moving entire racks for many years, and we have also seen the use of three dimensional articulated arms. Amazon’s warehouse model is a place where people will always be irreplaceable, and robots simply increase their capabilities or perform the heaviest and most repetitive tasks.
