Logistics: Amazon brings robotic technologies to Europe

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 21, 2015

The online retailer started using Amazon Robotics at its warehouse in Wrocław on 15 October, making Poland the company’s first location to employ the innovation outside the US.

With Amazon Robotics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, the e-tailer is introducing automated systems to streamline its warehouse operations, from storage of items to shipping of orders. The robots work alongside humans to meet the growing volume of orders the platform receives daily.

“Over the past 20 years, Amazon has grown from a small garage in Seattle to a global company with more than 285 million customers. In Europe, we have a successful network that comprises 29 distribution centers in seven countries and daily ships millions of products to customers throughout Europe. And we will continue to grow. This means that even our European logistics network has to grow in order to meet the demand of our customers,” said Roy Perticucci, Amazon Vice President Operations in Europe.

The new technology has been introduced as Amazon continues to expand on the continent. The high volume of orders has led the retailer to invest in new logistics centers and increase its number of employees by 6,000 people this year, reaching 25,000 employees in Europe.

Amazon is also planning to implement its new robotics solutions at its UK warehouses in Dunstable and Doncaster in early 2016.

The technology was developed by Kiva Systems, a firm that was acquired by Amazon in 2012 and renamed as Amazon Robotics.