Recently, I went on a tour of an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Edison, NJ. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take photos. But I will use similar photos from Business Insider to illustrate some of the things we saw today.
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This was a day I was glad to be traveling as Mario. No, I wasn't concerned about having to expose myself as a non-op TG who hasn't had her ID updated. Instead, I was more concerned about the heat inside the fulfillment center building - and I was right
RQS and I left the Croton area at 11:30, and started off towards Edison after a quick pit stop for a breakfast sandwich. Google Maps originally directed us to take the George Washington Bridge to get to New Jersey, but we took the Tappan Zee Bridge, cruising down the Garden State Parkway to Edison. We arrived at the fulfillment center around 1:30, and killed some time before entering the building.
After our legal IDs were checked against Amazon's list, we were given visitor passes and brough to a room where we were given headsets to protect our ears against the loudness of Amazon's operations area. The tour guide showed us the steps which a product takes from the point it enters the building, and then brought us to the floor where these processes take pace.
Amazon operates 24x7, 363 days each year, only being closed for Christmas and New Year. Our guide had never seen a day where the fulfillment center was closed, although there was a time that the center was temporarily out of operation due to a water main break. First, we went to the station where product is placed into inventory. The 4-sided storage shelves above each weigh up to 1,500 pounds, and are moved around by robots each of which weigh 300 pounds. As one can easily surmise, it can be very dangerous for a human to be on the other side of the area where these robots operate.
Humans load prod product into inventory in a special area where robots move these storage shelves into a neutral (safe) zone where people can reach into these shelves and store products. Each product is registered one item at a time, and when no more items can be loaded, the human sends the robot on its way and a new storage shelf is moved into position. One should note that items are stored at random, and tracked in its associated bin on the storage shelves until it is picked for customer delivery.
Occasionally, there are problems in the robots-only area, and they must be fixed by humans. Amazon has a special procedure for this, where a special person wearing a "anti-robot" vest is able to resolve the problem without risk of injury from the robots and storage shelves. (Who wants to get hit by 1,800 pounds of merchandise and equipment while on the job?) I can only imagine what it took to design the safety process that separates human areas from robot areas.
Eventually, a human picks items from the storage shelves and sends them along to packing areas. Robots move storage shelves to the interface area, and computers tell the human from which bin to pick an item for shipping, which item to be picked, and which bin to be sent for packing and shipping. This is also done under computer control, as items are routed to packing stations. From these stations, packed boxes are routed to labeling stations, then to carts which then get loaded on trucks for delivery to Amazon delivery centers, or other delivery services.
It was over a mile of walking with a few pauses to tell us what was being done in each place. Compared to what we used to do to process checks inside our bank, this was at least an order of magnitude more complex.
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On our way home, we got stuck in traffic jams, and I made it worse by taking side roads. In the end this was a blessing, I didn't plan this, but I would pass by one of the Jackson Hole diners and stop in for a good burger with RQS. So, I made a quick turn onto a side street and parked in their lot. When one enters the place, one sees an ancient pay phone, along with the memorabilia on the Northern side of the building. Both of us ordered burgers, and we had a hard time eating them - there was too much tasty meat on each burger without making a mess of ourselves. RQS saved half of her burger, while I ate it with a knife and fork. Yum!
At this time, it was close to 7, and I wanted to make it across the bridge while it was still light. Taking side roads North, we made it to the bridge and then home with a stop along the way....
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