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foxnews.com/tech/amazon-machines-replace-thousands-of-jobs
The machines, which were being tested in a few warehouses in recent years, are able to scan goods coming down a conveyor belt and put them in custom-built boxes a few seconds later.
The machines can pack up boxes at a rate of 600 to 700 per hour, or four to five times as fast as human workers, according to Reuters, which first reported the development.
Also at: Reuters
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New Amazon Machines Can Pack 600 Orders Per Hour, Could Replace Thousands of Jobs
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No self-made man ever did such a good job that some woman didn't
want to make some alterations.
-- Kim Hubbard
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Sunday May 19 2019, @04:43PM (34 children)
Bitching at the lack of an informative summary:
Just how big/expensive is this machine that's 4-5x as fast as "human workers"?
If 4.5 Amazon FTEs cost the company $300K/yr full up including benefits, overhead, etc. and this machine that has equivalent throughput costs $3 million and takes up 50 feet of conveyor belt to do it's thing, I'm not impressed.
If this machine only costs $500K and only takes up 5 feet of conveyor belt to accomplish the same throughput as 4.5 human workers, I'm very impressed, and expect the hidden "free shipping" tax on Amazon goods to be dropped accordingly after the 3 year ROI has accrued.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @05:09PM (7 children)
> and expect the hidden "free shipping" tax on Amazon goods to be dropped accordingly after the 3 year ROI has accrued
By then, Amazon is likely to have further tightened their monopoly hold on online shopping (in many categories) and will have no interest in lowering prices. Amazon is already more expensive than other suppliers in many cases (for example low volume books may well be cheaper direct from publishers).
(Score: 4, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Sunday May 19 2019, @06:07PM (5 children)
Might I suggest: banggood.com, among others.
Enjoy low-cost global mail shopping while it lasts.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @08:40PM
Banggood is fine if all you want is cheap Chinese crap* delivered slowly.
*It isn't necessarily all crap, but most of it is because they are often cutting corners making it as cheap as possible.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday May 20 2019, @03:59AM (3 children)
I've bought a couple things from Tomtop (similar outfit) and had no complaints.
banggood.com has stuff I never knew existed... like an old-fashioned handset for your cellphone... if I buy this, it's your fault. :)
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday May 20 2019, @12:15PM (2 children)
I never knew Sharp made cellphones - the Aquos S3 is really nice, my wife uses it as her daily driver now, and now uses Mint Mobile service for $15 per month, instead of the $30 she was paying. Cost for this 64GB/4GB 6" "mid-range" phone with killer cameras? $129.
I always though that Smartwatches should have their own SIM card access independent of your cellphone, I have one on the way.
I always thought that a waterPROOF smartphone with a big battery (think 5000+ mAH) made sense, trying to resist purchasing that one until we see how the watch works out with my "free" Google Fi data SIM.
Flashlights, sooooo many flashlights.
I haven't gotten the courage to try hand tools yet, not that I _need_ any.
Color display touchscreen case for Raspberry PI: $16, delivered.
I _almost_ got a bunch of $20 security cameras, but they're just too much work to install and setup and keep the spider webs off of.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday May 21 2019, @01:26AM (1 child)
Probably a lot of manufacturers "we never knew..." if one could follow all the rebadgings back to the original.
Send the hand tools to me; I'll try them out. :) Actually the main problem with Chinese tools is that the steel is soft, so anything with a point doesn't keep the point. Utterly worthless Philips screwdrivers.And sometimes soft or brittle shafts. (Make up my mind, do you plan to bend, shear, or shatter??)
Not especially cheap but noted an MP3 player that can take 128GB card... since the iTunes species invaded, I haven't found one locally that has more than 8GB storage or takes a card at all. If my old Sansa Clip ever dies I'll be bereft (commercial radio now being such crap, so it's my truck music)... might be worth risking the $35 for a backup.
These sites are the most gawdawful rabbit holes. :D
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday May 21 2019, @02:05AM
I think the more accurate statement is: the main problem with Chinese tools that they export to the US is that the steel is soft, because the biggest and most profitable tool market in the US is a bunch of Harbor Freight lovin' cheap ass redneck hypocrites.
Just like Mercedes doesn't really only make expensive luxury cars, they just project that image into the US with the subset of their products they export to US, the Chinese know which side their bread is buttered on. They know how to make good tool steel, they can and do make good tool steel when they want to, they just don't even bother trying to sell quality tool steel for US import because there ain't no way WalMart is gonna pay the required premium.
I used to tell myself I didn't care about how much storage was on my phone, didn't care if it took an expansion card or not. Today, I wouldn't consider a phone with less than 64GB storage unless it also has an expansion slot - which virtually ALL the phones on banggood do, even in the sub $100 category.
Too true, if you happen to find a cigarette lighter bluetooth to FM converter down there, be sure to pass the link this way...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 20 2019, @06:20PM
Monopoly doesn't mean merely being the top business in a sector. There has to be no other competitors in that sector, not merely that they are smaller.
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Sunday May 19 2019, @05:35PM (20 children)
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday May 19 2019, @07:04PM (19 children)
$55M for machines, 1300 unskilled job cuts, probably 130 skilled (machine maintenance) job adds... call it a net 1000 unskilled cuts. Amazon must pay dirt for their unskilled labor if their ROI horizon is over a year at $55K per unskilled job.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 19 2019, @07:11PM (8 children)
Machines such as those break down all the fucking time and often work poorly when they are in service -- ff you thought Mexicans were poor freight handlers then you ain't seen nuthin' yet. Amazon could earn brownie points by retraining their best unskilled workers into maintenance mechanics, it would be a perfect opportunity to learn skills and those workers would probably stay out of loyalty after having received free training. Because we're a good 20-30 years away from machines repairing each other. I worked in a printing press so I have seen everything that can go wrong with packaging-style machines.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday May 19 2019, @07:21PM (1 child)
The machines don't have to be error-free. They just need to replace 25 workers with 3-5 or whatever.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Monday May 20 2019, @04:42AM
I bet they could save even more by standardizing on either glue *or* jam, without having to use both.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday May 19 2019, @07:25PM
Unless you're typing this look-ma!-no-hands! using your nose or something, no you haven't: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/6537600/Fonterra-fined-over-cheese-machine-accident [stuff.co.nz]
compiling...
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Monday May 20 2019, @02:12AM (2 children)
Particularly with those shoes getting wedged in them all the time. Really tends to clog up the works.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Monday May 20 2019, @04:22AM (1 child)
I see what you did there...
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Monday May 20 2019, @04:28AM
... also, nice (subtle) reference to "sabot".
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Monday May 20 2019, @06:31PM (1 child)
Is that a thing? I mean, I don't associate Mexicans with freight handling, nor am I aware of any such stereotypes.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 20 2019, @08:58PM
it's just the fast, half-assed way mexicans (in the US) do everything. they needn't be freight handlers to demonstrate this characteristic. they have to be illegal and still scared of being deported, though. the more americanized mexicans do a half-assed and slow job...
(Score: 2) by https on Sunday May 19 2019, @08:50PM (7 children)
Paying dirt for labour is their entire business model.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 19 2019, @11:06PM (6 children)
Putting shit in a box and slapping the sticker that automatically got printed out for you isn't exactly demanding work in any way. I imagine it's exceedingly unfulfilling as well. Epically shitty jobs like this absolutely should be automated.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday May 20 2019, @04:04AM (3 children)
OTOH, there exist people for whom this would be a challenging job.
OTGH, their efficiency is probably equally, um, challenging.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 20 2019, @10:42AM (2 children)
That's actually a better point than you'd think at first glance. Intelligence distribution falls out so that there are a non-trivial percentage of people so bloody stupid that they're not good for anything in a world where mindless tedium has been automated away. I'm not talking your average dumbass who can learn a useful skill eventually. I'm talking about the ones so slow that the Army thinks they're worthless as infantry or even cooks. That's going to become an issue even if it isn't yet. I think it's one we can deal with but it doesn't need to be forgotten.
IMO, they need something to do though rather than a permanent handout. Temporarily helping someone down on their luck's one thing but people, despite how nice a temporary break from it is, do not exist well for long periods without purpose. Depression and anti-social mental disorders start cropping up with alarming frequency in people who do nothing productive.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ewk on Monday May 20 2019, @01:47PM (1 child)
"Depression and anti-social mental disorders start cropping up with alarming frequency in people who do nothing productive."
As witnessed here daily :-)
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday May 21 2019, @01:13AM
Oh to be able to be lumped in with that group. I've shoveled many tons of rock in the past few weeks. It's easier on my RSI than swinging a sledge hammer but I still wake up every morning barely able to hold a cup of coffee until I get everything stretched out and loosened up again.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday May 20 2019, @04:57AM (1 child)
I hate agreeing with you
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 20 2019, @10:47AM
I'm not always fond of agreeing with me either. Not every correct conclusion is a pleasant one.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Monday May 20 2019, @02:36AM
4 to 5 times faster than a human. Don't forget that the machines are going to run 24/7. It's probably replacing 12 to 15 workers.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday May 20 2019, @02:35PM
$13 per hour for packers if you believe glassdoor.com [glassdoor.com]. Although I didn't throw in the $869 (/year?) additional they list, $54,080 / year even if you double the hourly for benefits/overhead on a 40 by 52 basis (and they'd be crazy to use actual FT for workers - they should load with PT's to avoid benefits). And my guess is that the average would offset where $15 is minimum wage with an equal number of $11 jobs.
Figure that the $55 million is depreciated over 5 years for $11 million / year cost, and you get breakeven at 203.4 FTE cuts. It jumps to 271.2 FTE if you figure bennies/OH at half of salary ($19.60/hour gross expense).
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @06:37PM
rDT/FauxNews submission. You want facts? Ha ha ha!
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday May 19 2019, @07:17PM (2 children)
The Robots, supposedly cost ONE MILLION DOLLARS each. And they're getting, I assume, 110 of them. Sounds like a lot of money, right? And, it is a lot. But, they're hoping to make it up on the back end. Because, less Paper Cuts. People don't know this, Cardboard boxes are one of the biggest causes of Paper Cuts. They way they're doing it now, somebody reaches into every box. Reaching over those sharp Cardboard flaps. And puts each "item" into the box by hand. Every single item is hand-packed, so amazing. And, so dangerous. Look what happened to Monsanto. A few lawsuits of, Packers dieing, or getting crippled by Paper Cuts and they could lose as much money as they're paying for these Robots. I'm no fan of Cheatin' Jeff Bozo -- as everybody knows. But, there are reasons he's the richest "person"!!
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @09:09PM (1 child)
That's what, eight porn stars for you? You may find it more cost effective, and less politically dangerous, to pay a machine to handle your package.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday May 20 2019, @04:48AM
Possibly more kinematically dangerous [youtube.com], however.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @08:01PM
Amazon is in this for the long haul, if it takes them 10 years to recoup costs then start making a 'profit' due to lower costs, then they do it. Its called strategic planning.
Cant waste time planning for next month when you are this large.