Amazon is looking use its army of robots to make sure packages are delivered quickly and effectively this Christmas.
People with knowledge of the situation said the e-commerce giant is saving employees the trouble of looking for items in long aisles by having the orange, wheeled machines move stock shelves at some of the company's warehouses, according to MarketWatch.
The new system follows after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told investors at the company's annual meeting in May that he was looking to deploy 10,000 robots by the end of 2014. Kiva Systems, which Amazon bought in 2012 for $775 million, is responsible for developing the bots.
The goal of the new system is to improve productivity of Amazon's same-day and overnight delivery services, which the robots can accomplish by helping employees sort and pack products faster, Zacks.com reported. Pickers were previously expected to scan 100 items in an hour, but now they are expected to scan at least 300 items in the same amount of time.
The robots can especially come in handy during the holiday season, which is responsible for a large portion of Amazon's annual revenues. Customer traffic is at its highest for Amazon in November and December, and faster sorting and packaging is needed while Amazon is announcing bigger holiday deals.
People familiar with the new system said Amazon has deployed the robots to warehouses in several states, including California, Kentucky and Texas, MarketWatch reported. These warehouses are part of a longer list that has yet to be revealed.
The Seattle-based company has a chance to make operations less complicated with the Kiva robots, as well as save time and reduce costs for fulfillment centers, Zacks.com reported.
However, due to current laws prohibiting private operation of such robots and Amazon not presenting a finished version of the machines, it may be a while before the company's robots will be used on a larger scale.
