Security, efficiency, sustainability and improved customer experience. Amazon has set these four challenges for its more than 200 scientists and engineers who design new robots every year in the company’s largest European innovation laboratory, located in Vercelli, a town near Milan. According to the world’s largest online store, the investment effort in robotics, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, and sustainable packaging amounts to 700 million euros between 2017 and 2024, at an average of one hundred million euros per year. This amount has allowed the implementation of more than a thousand new innovations capable of adding value in automation, both for employees and customers.
Stefano Perego, vice president of international operations at Amazon, stated on Thursday, during a meeting with the international press, that “machine learning and advanced technology will eliminate repetitive movements that robots can easily perform so that operators can focus on value-added activities.” According to the same executive, the company handles the daily shipment of more than 400 million products in Europe, a volume that continuously invites improvements in efficiency. Among the latest developments is the reduction of the distance between the product and the customer by 25 kilometers in the last year, with the help of 750,000 robotic systems, which also facilitate waste reduction. Specifically, Amazon has managed to reduce the weight of its product packaging by 41% in recent years, equivalent to 2 million tons.
Stefano La Rovere, Global Director of Robotics, Mechatronics, and Sustainable Packaging at Amazon, has stated that “the efforts of its scientists aim to improve collaboration between humans and machines.” In this way, “robotics and technologies play a crucial role in improving Amazon’s operations network, as artificial intelligence allows the optimization of operations with cutting-edge technologies that include item sorters, pallet movers, and automated guided vehicles.”
Presentation of the super robot URL
Among Amazon’s main innovations stands out the so-called URL, which stands for Universal Robotic Labeller (URL), a technology capable of applying different types of labels to identify packages of any format, not just rectangular boxes. The advantages are remarkable as the high-speed self-labeling system “improves the placement and adhesion of labels on irregular surfaces,” for subsequent shipment to various European logistics centers. As La Rovere has explained, “the strengths of URL are differential compared to previous generations of robots since it also allows directly on products and sending them in the product package, eliminating the need for additional packaging, which helps reduce waste and recycling by the customer.”
The same executive stressed that “the URL machine represents a significant advance in Amazon’s fulfillment technology as it improves the entire labeling process, contributes to the company’s sustainability goals and ultimately benefits employees’ functions, customer experience, and the environment“.
“The introduction of new technologies in the last ten years has created 50,000 new jobs in Amazon operations in Europe”.
Robert Marhan, Vice President of People, Experience, and Technology for Amazon Operations in Europe, estimates that more than 50,000 jobs in distribution centers throughout Europe “have improved thanks to the introduction of new technologies in the last decade, which support employees in their roles, providing a safer work environment and opportunities to upgrade their skills,” the executive said in the press conference.
Ben Armastrong, CEO of the industrial area of Amazon’s technology hub, denied the negative impact of robotization on employment. In his opinion, “companies are hiring more and the trend is irreversible. If you employ new technologies, you need people with new skills and capabilities, so work doesn’t disappear, it just changes, evolves…” among other relevant data, “the introduction of new technologies in the last ten years has created 50,000 new jobs in Amazon operations in Europe.”
‘Express’ Shipments
Amazon sources have also acknowledged that, during 2023, the company was able to “deliver to Prime members at the fastest speed ever achieved worldwide, with over 7 billion units arriving on the same day or the next day, including over 4 billion in the United States and over 2 billion in Europe.”
Regarding the Vercelli innovation hub, its managers have indicated that the facilities serve as a “training center for Amazon Robotics operators, as well as a testing ground for new companies that receive funding and guidance through Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund.” In addition, starting this year, “the laboratory will be open for public visits, offering customers, schools, or any interested individuals, the opportunity to discover how Amazon creates and develops innovations.”
