Amazon looking to build in GR metro

[GRDadof3]

15 hours ago, mpchicago said:

Drone  view of Amazon warehouse in Gaines Twp

The Marvel movie soundtrack on that video really makes that warehouse look even more impressive.

I was mesmerized by the parking islands. 

[organsnyder]

11 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

The Marvel movie soundtrack on that video really makes that warehouse look even more impressive.

Ah, that's why I was tearing up. I thought it was the architecture.

[Sparty97]

That is a lot of parking spots.  I guess I didn't fully appreciate how many people will be working there.  I was picturing a warehouse with a lot of automation and robots running around.  Must be a lot more manual process than I was imagining.

[GRDadof3]

5 hours ago, Sparty97 said:

That is a lot of parking spots.  I guess I didn't fully appreciate how many people will be working there.  I was picturing a warehouse with a lot of automation and robots running around.  Must be a lot more manual process than I was imagining.

I think they said 300 or so people will work in the office part (the 2 story section), and the rest of the 1000 will work in fulfillment/warehouse. 

[Guest]

On 5/1/2019 at 12:33 PM, Sparty97 said:

That is a lot of parking spots.  I guess I didn't fully appreciate how many people will be working there.  I was picturing a warehouse with a lot of automation and robots running around.  Must be a lot more manual process than I was imagining.

I think full automation is still quite a ways off in the future.  From my warehouse days there's a lot that goes into order fulfillment..... you get the orders, pick them from the racks, pack or skid them based on order size, double check the shipping information, weigh them,  verify customs information, load trucks, receive inventory, etc.  A lot can go wrong at every step.  Inventory can be off, skids in racks could be damaged and unsafe, product could be damaged, trucks are tricky to load/unload.  Plus who would talk to the truck drivers?

I think most of the warehouse deals you seen on Amazon are usually products damaged by robots or automation.  They're usually sold at or below cost  If an order is picked wrong Amazon eats the in going and outgoing postage.  Right now it's probably more cost effective to just cycle through 'temp' employees picking and packing

[joeDowntown]

Does anyone know when the Amazon distribution facility opens? From the outside, it looks ready to go. It's a massive facility!

 

[Allison Slater]

I'd assumed it already opened considering the Amazon vans on the road, getting my packages straight from Amazon now instead of USPS, and my Prime account now giving me next-day delivery.

[GrSportsGuy]

17 hours ago, tSlater said:

I'd assumed it already opened considering the Amazon vans on the road, getting my packages straight from Amazon now instead of USPS, and my Prime account now giving me next-day delivery.

Those vans are from independent companies contracted to do deliveries for Amazon. There are several of them around town. I think the one in Walker is the largest.

[Raildude's dad]

My neighbor just accepted a position a position with Amazon as a facility manager. He had his choice of 68th St or the Walker facility on Walkent. He chose Walker since we live only a mile or so from there. That would indicate they re not closing the Walker facility.  Right now there are vans parked at Evans Tempcon on Ann St, Gracewil Golf Course on 4 Mile and off Alpine north of i-96.  I bet there's 75 to 100 vans each at the first two locations.  How this helps global warming if you believe that is beyond me.  We have USPS that delivers  to every house hold 6 days a week, the brown truck fleet, and the white truck fleet. Do we really need all these additional trucks to achieve next day delivery?

[54equalsunity]

My neighbor just accepted a position a position with Amazon as a facility manager. He had his choice of 68th St or the Walker facility on Walkent. He chose Walker since we live only a mile or so from there. That would indicate they re not closing the Walker facility.  Right now there are vans parked at Evans Tempcon on Ann St, Gracewil Golf Course on 4 Mile and off Alpine north of i-96.  I bet there's 75 to 100 vans each at the first two locations.  How this helps global warming if you believe that is beyond me.  We have USPS that delivers  to every house hold 6 days a week, the brown truck fleet, and the white truck fleet. Do we really need all these additional trucks to achieve next day delivery?

I remember reading an article similar to this one a while back. It looks like Amazon is just working to expand its delivery empire without having to be directly involved in the delivery business.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40590799/amazon-wants-hundreds-of-startups-to-help-deliver-its-packages

And who needs vans when we can **bring on the drones** [emoji38]

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[joeDowntown]

Rivian, a Detroit based EV startup, received an order for 100,000 electric vans. It will be interesting to see how much amazon pushes electric vehicle innovation:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20873947/amazon-electric-delivery-van-rivian-jeff-bezos-order

[egrguy]

5 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

My neighbor just accepted a position a position with Amazon as a facility manager. He had his choice of 68th St or the Walker facility on Walkent. He chose Walker since we live only a mile or so from there. That would indicate they re not closing the Walker facility.  Right now there are vans parked at Evans Tempcon on Ann St, Gracewil Golf Course on 4 Mile and off Alpine north of i-96.  I bet there's 75 to 100 vans each at the first two locations.  How this helps global warming if you believe that is beyond me.  We have USPS that delivers  to every house hold 6 days a week, the brown truck fleet, and the white truck fleet. Do we really need all these additional trucks to achieve next day delivery?

 Your comment about next day delivery and the environment triggered my memory on this article.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/07/15/business/fast-shipping-environmental-impact/index.html