Amazon's large robotics fulfilment centre in Sydney will soon have people & robots working together

Amazon's 200,000-square-metre fulfilment centre located at Goodman is nearly ready. Spanning the size of 24 rugby league fields across four floors, the first Amazon Robotics fulfilment centre (FC) in the Southern Hemisphere was earlier planned to open by end of this year. As per the latest reports, it is now slated to open early next year in Western Sydney. 

The extended lockdowns and talent shortage are some of the probable reasons that slowed the completion process. 

To secure the site, Amazon worked with Goodman Group and its JV partner Brickworks. 

Since commencement of Amazon’s site, more than 4,000 construction workers have been inducted to build and develop the fulfillment centre. 

Once the construction is completed, robots and humans will work together in this Amazon centre, reducing the time and effort that would otherwise be required for the employee to stow items for sale or retrieve them for new customer orders and increasing efficiency. 

The use of pods saves space and enables 50 percent more items to be stowed per square metre which in turn allows for increased product selection. 

Amazon Australia's Director of Operations, Craig Fuller said, "The introduction of robotics enables us to exponentially increase our capacity for storing inventory, providing additional opportunities for the thousands of small and medium sized Australian businesses we support, while increasing product selection and improving delivery speed for our customers around the country."

Amazon Australia will hire about 1,500 people for the centre. Craig shared that the hiring has already begun, including the promotion and transfer of around 130 existing employees from Amazon’s first Sydney fulfilment centre in Moorebank.

Along with specialised positions in areas like robotics, Amazon will offer a range of roles that don’t demand formal qualifications.