On Tuesday, Amazon (AMZN) demonstrated the Sequoia Warehouse Robotic System in its Houston fulfillment center.
The world’s largest online retailer stressed that artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are critical to faster and safer warehouses. With the introduction of Sequoia and Digit on October 18, Amazon now has 14 mainline warehouse robots.
Sequoia functions as a containerized storage system, presenting totes to make it easier for employees to grab items from containers. Autonomous mobile robotic platforms deliver the totes from storage structures and insert them into the employee workstations.
It creates ergonomic zones where all items are presented at an angle between mid-thigh and mid-chest. In addition, the robotic system eliminates the need for warehouse workers to reach above their heads or stoop down.
Rain Wang, the Sequoia project leader, revealed that the new system can identify and store inventory 75.00% faster. As a result, it hastens Amazon item listing to reduce the total order fulfillment times by 25.00%.
In addition, it facilitates improved data collection, making delivery time estimates more accurate. Overall, fulfillment centers can offer same-day or next-day delivery even for orders received later in the day.
As for safety numbers, Wang said they are still waiting to collect more internal data from the Houston rollout. However, she emphasized that Amazon Robotics sites generally have 15.00% lower incident rates.
Sequoia Empowers the Amazon Sparrow Arm
With assistance from Sequoia, the Sparrow arm can pick up individual items of any shape or size. Combining the two robotic systems allows Amazon’s Houston warehouse to consolidate products into a single tote.
Using fewer totes frees up space and boosts efficiency by reducing the footsteps employees need to do their tasks. Thus, the company is in the process of integrating the Sparrow arm into Sequoia properly and efficiently.
Unfortunately, the autonomous complex has a glaring problem the company has yet to solve – noise. Amazon has yet to find the perfect solution and has settled on using higher-quality belts to lower the vibration levels.
