Amazon opens robot-enhanced UK warehouse

Friday, April 28, 2017 - 09:46 by Mike Price

Twelve hundred people are set to secure jobs at a new Amazon distribution facility in the UK. The unit will also play home to hundreds of high tech automated systems which harness robots to improve efficiency and productivity, according to the Guardian.

The e-commerce giant has previously announced its plans to expand rapidly nationwide, with thousands more permanent and temporary positions up for grabs.

Company spokesperson, Stefano Perego, said that Amazon customers should expect costs to drop as a result of the improvements which are made possible thanks to robotics tech, meaning that buying items via safe shopping online will become even more affordable.

The Warrington warehouse will be joined by another in Tilbury which is also set to leverage cutting edge systems in combination with human workers, suggesting that a future in which people are entirely eliminated from the workplace is not as close as some have predicted.

In 2018 another major facility will be opened by Amazon, this time in Coventry, with the intention of creating a place where products can be received in high volumes, before being sorted and shipped out to regional distribution centres.

With millions of customers across the UK and hundreds of thousands of different products available, the process of orchestrating distribution and delivery on this scale is immensely complex. So making use of automation and robotics makes sense.

The fact that staff employed at these new facilities will also receive perks such as shares in Amazon and access to a pension plan is a positive step for the US firm, especially since it has faced criticism in the past both for its treatment of workers and its tax tactics.

More people buy items from Amazon via safe shopping online than from any other UK e-commerce site, with this aggressive expansion strategy sure to cement its position at the top of the market.