Amazon recently confirmed plans to build a 685,000-square-foot robotic fulfillment center in Melbourne, Australia, making it the largest facility of its kind in the country.
The fulfillment center will employ a fleet of robots that will work alongside Amazon staffers, according to IoT World Today. The robots will collect products from around the warehouse and bring them to employees for packing.
“Instead of the associate going to the items, the items are coming to the associate. That helps speed [up] order processing times,” said Janet Menzies, Amazon Australia’s country chief executive.
The construction project will cost $8.4 billion and will be completed by 2025. The new venue will employ 2,000 people once fully operational, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Upon completion, it will be Amazon’s seventh fulfillment center in Australia, as well as the company’s largest venue in the country.
“Australia is a very important market for Amazon, and we’re really buoyed by the consumer reaction to our offer,” Menzies added. “Just very excited about the opportunity this will create for new jobs.”
Prior to this announcement, Amazon’s largest Australian fulfillment center was located in Western Sydney and spanned about 656,000 square feet. That facility was completed in late 2021.
