A huge center spread over 32 lakh square feet. Countless QR codes on the floor. Thousands of robots operate from these QR codes. These robots are picking up the packages, scanning them and sending them for delivery. Actually, we have reached the fulfillment center MQY-1 of Amazon, the world's largest online shopping company, about 40 km away from Nashville city.
This is one of the world's largest fulfillment centers of Amazon. This center has the capacity to ship five lakh orders to customers every day. This center is five storeyed and each floor is as big as 13 football fields. That means, in a campus the size of 65 football fields, these robots prepare orders in the blink of an eye. About 7 thousand robots are doing this work here.
Ty Brady, Chief Technologist of Amazon Robotics, says that Amazon has the largest fleet of industrial mobile robots in the world. At present, more than seven and a half lakh robots are working in Amazon warehouses in America. They are helping in everything from stock maintenance to packing and delivery.
Along with investment in robotics, 700 new jobs related to robotics have also come to Amazon. Dharmesh Mehta, VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services of Amazon, says that we have brought AI for sellers also. Today, from our AI Amelia, sellers can take ideas from product branding to campaigns.
Helpdesk at the Amazon Building Nashville.
From order arrival to delivery…such robots are doing the work
Scott- Tells what customers want with the help of AI
Scott i.e. Supply Chain Optimization Technologies is a command center. With the help of AI and machine learning, it tells what kind of products should be in the warehouse. It helps in maintaining stock based on customers' area and preferences.
Sequoia- 75% reduced inventory maintenance time
Once the product reaches the warehouse, Amazon's inventory management system works to stock it with the help of Sequoia robots. Due to this, the time taken for this work has been reduced by 75%. This system can hold more than 3 crore different items.
Sparrow – Ordered item delivered within seconds
The customer orders the goods from the same app. With the help of AI, his order is routed to the nearest fulfillment centre. Here the Sparrow robot sorts the ordered items out of millions of items with the help of computer vision and places them in the trolley in seconds. The trolley automatically moves forward for packaging. Sparrow recognizes 200 million different products.
AI Tunnel – Automatic packing and separation of spoiled goods
The product coming for packaging comes out through an AI tunnel, here with the help of computer vision, things like wrong product, damage, expiry are scanned. The product moves forward only when it is in good condition.
Packing Station – Here the order is packed automatically.
When the order arrives at the packing station, the machine scans the size of the goods and makes packets accordingly. This is where the address is pasted and the package is sealed and ready for delivery.
Robin- Pack forwards orders based on delivery address
Robin is a robotic arm. It has 8 suction caps. Here it identifies and picks up the right item and places it in Pegasus, another wheeled robot. Pegasus takes the parcel for loading as per zip code and keeps it in the trolley. This trolley is further taken by another robot for delivery.
Delivery- Out of hundreds of orders, the right order is received in one second.
After this the product reaches the delivery van. Amazon's latest delivery vans are now equipped with Vision Assisted Package Retrieval (VAPR). In this, the driver does not have to reach the customer's address and search for the customer's parcel among hundreds of parcels kept in the van. As soon as the van reaches the address, the green light lights up near the parcel.
AI is also changing the shopping experience in these ways
1. Rufus system helps customers choose products
Rufus is an AI powered shopping assistant. It helps customers understand product details, provide product suggestions, and make accurate comparisons to other products.
2. Review Highlights provide a summary of the review
With the help of this system, customers get a one-paragraph summary of thousands of reviews given by customers for a product. This helps him in choosing the product.
3. AI shopping guide explains the product
Amazon has recently launched AI Shopping Guide. It gives customers knowledge about the features of the selected product. Gives information about its top brands. It tells you what to buy as per your need.
Graphics Source: VaskarAssets
