Amazon operates robots around the clock for just 25 cents a day - You can too!
Amazon eight years ago purchased robotic fulfilment system maker Kiva Systems for $775 million, a deal paying very clear dividends now as the acquisition boosted delivery capacity from warehouses.
Luca Ramotti, an analyst at Legal & General Investment Management, said the firm recently heard from the co-founder of Kiva Systems, who said Amazon has been able to deploy hundreds of thousands of mobile robots that run on artificial intelligence. Operating each robot around-the-clock uses just 25 cents a day in electricity, he said.
“In these and other applications, embracing robotics and AI is cost-effective, safer, autonomous (as the technology works continuously in the background once switched on), limits human errors, and its marginal costs are minimal, so it can be scaled-up rapidly and applied frequently.”
Ocado, the U.K.-based food delivery company, recently announced two deals in the space. Ocado paid $262 million for Kindred Systems, which makes item-picking robots for ecommerce and order fulfilment, and $25 million for Haddington Dynamics, which makes lightweight robotic arms that can be 3-D printed.
Ocado is working with Kroger in the U.S., where it will run 20 automated fulfillment centers for the retailer.
“In setting out the strategic rationale for these acquisitions, Ocado highlighted the high costs associated with sorting and selecting goods in its giant warehouses – up to £7 million annually per center. Anything that can make this process more efficient is therefore welcome for ecommerce providers,” said Ramotti.
Ocado, like Amazon, has benefited from a surge in demand due to the pandemic. Earlier this week, Ocado lifted its profit guidance, and its stock has nearly doubled this year.
