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The capital cost to build a modern Amazon Fulfillment Center is absolutely staggering. I used to be part of a team that helped launch them. Go watch one of tho

by mabbo 5y ago

The capital cost to build a modern Amazon Fulfillment Center is absolutely staggering. I used to be part of a team that helped launch them. Go watch one of those "inside the Amazon warehouse" videos on YouTube. The box/tote sorting machines are millions of dollars each, and there are probably 3 big ones and maybe 2 or 3 more small ones. The ubiquitous conveyor belts are cheap individually, but there are miles of them. The robots moving the storage shelves are not cheap, and there are hundreds of them per floor, and typically 4 floors. Amazon's strategy for the last decade has been to make these huge capital costs to keep variable costs low. They don't just shut an FC down.

nopenopenopeno 5y ago
Oh yes they do. See: Rust Belt. I think you’re drastically underestimating the influence of unionization.
hackernewds 5y ago
from an outside of perspective, these don't seem to be compelling reasons why Amazon might not do the same. Amazon can choose to lose a LOT of money and bear tight margins in the retail business (as they do already). And they can just move the equipment, they don't have to lose them. I think the reason Amazon might just not do it is there is a lot of scrutiny and discourse against Amazon is politically favorable, that they would embellish their brand as "evil" even further - whether it be real or not.
archon810 5y ago
I understand the robots are expensive, but dismantling a distribution center doesn't mean destroying the robots. They can just ship them to a new distribution center elsewhere, pay for relocation and setup, but it's not like they have to destroy them and lose all value.
- mabbo 5y ago
  The robots, yes. The sorters and conveyance, far less so. A huge portion of their cost is just the installation. For a big, high speed 'shoe'[0] sorter, you're talking about a machine more than 100m long that is heavily, heavily bolted into the cement floor. I believe that particular building has four such sorters. [0] Not a sorter of shoes for your feet, but a sorter that uses little boxes called 'shoes' to carefully knock packages off at the right place.
nemo44x 5y ago
They have so much money it’s not really a thing. This particular warehouse will be made an example of. The sad part is the workers had a good thing going. A fair thing. But a few agitators ruined it to make their own profit. Sad.

by mabbo 5y ago

nopenopenopeno 5y ago

Oh yes they do. See: Rust Belt. I think you’re drastically underestimating the influence of unionization.

hackernewds 5y ago

from an outside of perspective, these don't seem to be compelling reasons why Amazon might not do the same. Amazon can choose to lose a LOT of money and bear tight margins in the retail business (as they do already). And they can just move the equipment, they don't have to lose them. I think the reason Amazon might just not do it is there is a lot of scrutiny and discourse against Amazon is politically favorable, that they would embellish their brand as "evil" even further - whether it be real or not.

archon810 5y ago

I understand the robots are expensive, but dismantling a distribution center doesn't mean destroying the robots. They can just ship them to a new distribution center elsewhere, pay for relocation and setup, but it's not like they have to destroy them and lose all value.

mabbo 5y ago
The robots, yes. The sorters and conveyance, far less so. A huge portion of their cost is just the installation. For a big, high speed 'shoe'[0] sorter, you're talking about a machine more than 100m long that is heavily, heavily bolted into the cement floor. I believe that particular building has four such sorters. [0] Not a sorter of shoes for your feet, but a sorter that uses little boxes called 'shoes' to carefully knock packages off at the right place.

nemo44x 5y ago

They have so much money it’s not really a thing. This particular warehouse will be made an example of. The sad part is the workers had a good thing going. A fair thing. But a few agitators ruined it to make their own profit. Sad.