Inside Amazon's Smart Warehouse

Amazon is the world’s biggest retailer, and its CEO Jeff Bezos the world’s richest man, for one very good reason. His company is better than anyone else, ever, at giving people what they want, quickly.

Amazon acquired its undisputed status as heavyweight champion of the retail universe thanks largely to its lightning-fast delivery times. The astonishing feat of ferrying hundreds of millions of items, from guitar strings to saucepans to car parts, directly to your door, inside 24 hours, is nothing short of a modern logistical miracle.

So how does Amazon do it? A super-smart army of slave robots, for one. Ingenious, if occasionally unscrupulous, management practices are part of the answer too. And the modern-day voodoo of deep-learning AI – all of which are made flesh in the most advanced stockrooms the world has ever seen. So join us today, as we button up our hi-vis jacket and journey inside Amazon’s smart warehouses.

[Flaskygg]

imagine having a warehouse probably with every item you could imagine... and you get a t-shirt or a water bottle for a good job... lol

[RM-ipbl]

When I started working in a Amazon fulfillment Center in 2017 we were allowed 1 error per 1000 items. By 2019 it was 1 error per 5, 000 items.

[RontoGoldlust]

I've worked as an order picker at an AR fulfillment center and I am currently working at a different FC driving an order picker to pick larger, heavier items. Honestly, the work in the AR facility where I was stationary picking items off the pods that the robots bring to me was more exhausting. The rate at the AR facility was much higher, picking one order roughly every 7 seconds, and due to the height of the pod, you may need to kneel down to the bottom or climb a step ladder to the top... Every 7 seconds. Doing that for 40 hours a week was very tiresome. I personally wouldn't recommend working as an order picker in an AR facility.

[tl]

The next automation they should come with is an adult diaper dispenser for warehouse employees.
This will cut down on the amount of time it takes to pee into a bottle.

[Fbnt]

amazon is on an absolutely insane level

[doggydave]

I work at FedEx and this looks way easier than what I’m currently doing.

[davidferguson]

I worked at an Amazon Distribution Warehouse for a month. It was brand new. You had to have a package stowed in at least 8 seconds and have a package scanned in less than 2 seconds. Mind the fact that you were dealing with 2 to 3 rows at a time. Not to be critical, but that type of time management is unrealistic. Getting paid $15 an hour to be ran ragged is not smart. I was able to find a better job in less than 24 hours getting paid $18 an hour plus benefits packaging electrical parts. Just working the second week at my new job I made right over $1, 017 after taxes.😁

[tracykaebisch]

I work in an Amazon warehouse and started during the height of covid. The safety issues that we bring up to managers are rarely enforced, the truck the guy is shown loading will fall on someone. I've been hit several times because there isn't really much accountability between warehouses. It gets worse because they poorly train workers and hire people who don't care. While I don't work in an AI warehouse, I do know that several packages are mislabeled and cause more waste and time for real people to fix the slam machines' issues. Some times sharp objects are poking through thin envelopes and heavy objects (think dog food....) are not packed in reinforced boxes and consistently break open. Sorry hungry doggos. Good AI is still a LONG way into the future.

[jonsgaming]

You missed the part where the boxes are half opened or on the ground or jamming conveyor belts.

[ttomisin]

The last line ”as long as we are all buying, Amazon will keep on delivering ” 👌💯

[sj]

9:30 Amazon: Okay we are now going to invest in robotic ambulances

[tomiadventures]

When I worked at Amazon as a driver, I wasn't allowed to leave after I filled my car. I had to wait for everyone else to finish. It didn't make sense because some routes were 45minutes away with only a couple delivers. Other people had 50 delivers but it would be around the corner. Why would anyone* keep working there?

[FitoutmyofficeGlenside]

This is insane. How well a warehouse is configured will have a bearing on how successful a business will be in the speed and accuracy with which it can achieve order fulfilment for its customers. This is clearly the case here.

[AluminumOxide]

8:08 put another way, the workers have to process and package one package every 30 seconds (no later), to as fast as one per 12 seconds.

[zinoheadshot]

This is an awful representation of what it’s actually like in an amazon warehouse - a disgruntled current employee

[QueenetBowie]

This is insane, say what you want about how they treat their workers, but the logistical and technological genius here is mind blowing. It’s wild to think that almost anyone in the US could order an item and within hours get it at their door step hand delivered, I remember having to wait until the next day just to drive 45 mins to the nearest Best Buy to get some DVD player or whatever...

[JohnRendNYC]

I used to work in a warehouse like this for Amazon. It was known as TEB9 in New Jersey. They named it that because TEB is the airport code for the closest airport, Teterboro. I forget what the 9 meant. But it honestly wasn't a bad job to have. I mean they kinda treat their employees like crazy but over there. It wasn't what I was hearing about too much. I can definitely see what it's all about.

[imbatman]

people love going on Vacation, seeing the beach and stuff... me, i just want to go to a amazon warehouse, everything id ever want is under one roof, imagine that

[adrianjason]

Imagine working long, exhaustive hours in one of these depressing warehouses fulfilling unrealistic quotas only to be rewarded with an Amazon shirt that says "thanks for working hard, now get back to work".

[JoseAlvarez-zxoh]

2nd week at a brand new FC Warehouse, clocked in 8-10 miles every 10 hour shift. Got some good shoes, insoles, compression socks, I don't feel shit! 😁 time goes by fast too.