Over 45,000 robots operational in Amazon's warehouses

The number of robots used by Amazon in its warehouses is rising exponentially and has now topped the 45,000 mark, wrote the Seattle Times in late December 2016, which says the number grew by more than 50% in one year.

At Christmas 2015, approximately 30,000 robots were active in Amazon's 20 main warehouses worldwide, working alongside 230,000 employees, wrote the US newspaper. The flat, orange-coloured rectangular robots on wheels are used mainly for transporting goods, for a weight up to 270 kg [595 lb]. 'Human' skills are still needed for packaging orders however.

"We’ve changed, again, the automation, the size, the scale many times, and we continue to learn and grow there,” said Amazon's CFO Brian Olsavsky. He explained that some warehouses are already "fully fitted" with robots wheareas  “some don’t for economic reasons — maybe the volume’s not perfect for robot volume.”