Warehouses

More companies are exploring ways to staff warehouses with robots but may have to wait a few years for the technology to catch up.More than a fifth of warehouse operators have invested in automation to help address labor shortages, particularly as they worked to handle surging e-commerce orders during the pandemic. Some companies are exploring full automation that requires few employees. These “lights out” or “dark” warehouses—called so because robots don’t need as much lighting as humans—require sizable upfront costs,…

For decades, Bosch Dairy in Ontario, where three generations raised cattle, was a bucolic outpost with fields of cows and rows of eucalyptus to cut the driving wind that came down the Cajon Pass.A few years ago, Bud Bosch noticed semitrailers occasionally rumbling along the two-lane rural road by his property. Soon, dozens were kicking up dust, night and day, plying roads made for tractors. Bosch thought he had escaped the explosion of warehouse development that has wiped out farmland and open space. But the ecommerce…

Federal officials have cited Amazon for unsafe working conditions and ergonomic hazards at three warehouses, including the company’s Aurora site. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Amazon connected to the Aurora warehouse along with worksites in Nampa, Idaho; and Castleton, N.Y.; for “failing to keep workers safe,” according to a Wednesday U.S. Department of Labor new release. OSHA has also “delivered hazard alert letters for exposing workers to ergonomic hazards,” the release said.…

Federal authorities have cited Amazon. AMZN 0.11% com Inc. for safety violations at three of its warehouses. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday it had issued citations to the company after inspections at facilities in Florida, Illinois and New York. It said workers at those sites were exposed to ergonomic hazards or hazards with equipment, including having to perform…

Amazon has failed to convince Cornele Overstreet, a regional director with the National Labor Relations Board, to overturn JFK8 workers' vote in favor of unionization. If you'll recall, the JFK8 facility in Staten Island became the first unionized Amazon warehouse after workers voted 2,350-1,912 in favor of joining a union back in April 2022. Amazon said at the time that it was "disappointed" with the result and challenged the vote, alleging "inappropriate and undue influence" from the NLRB. The Wall Street Journal says…

Councils such the City of Sydney, Inner West, Randwick and Waverley have joint guidelines for bike sharing in their areas, but the rules are not legally enforceable because that is a state government responsibility.LoadingIn active transport minister Rob Stokes’ reply to Nicolau – and in a response to questions from this masthead from an Office of Local Government spokeswoman – the government pointed to anti-dumping laws introduced in 2021.“Under the... act, if an item is not removed by an owner or operator from a public…

Amazon has unveiled its latest warehouse robot. It says "Sparrow is the first robotic system in our warehouses that can detect, select, and handle individual products in our inventory." The robotic arm uses AI and computer vision to recognize and handle millions of items, according to Amazon. The company says that, by employing robots in its warehouses, it can conduct operations more efficiently and safely. "Sparrow will take on repetitive tasks, enabling our employees to focus their time and energy on other things, while…

Amazon’s adding a new AI infused package grabbing robot to its growing army of soulless, metal warehouse workers.This week, at Amazon’s Delivering The Future conference near Boston, the company unveiled Sparrow, an AI assisted robotic arm its creators say uses computer vision to identify and move “millions” of objects. Sparrow, CNBC notes, will work in Amazon warehouses, where it will move products before they are packaged, work previously done primarily by overworked, and constantly surveilled human Amazon workers. In a…

E-commerce-related distribution centers and other warehouses are facing a squeeze from a surge in construction and softening demand, a new concern for a sector that has been the darling of commercial real estate owners for years.The industrial real-estate business was already riding high from the explosive growth of online shopping when the Covid-19 pandemic caused nationwide lockdowns in 2020. That triggered a logistics building boom to meet the needs of retailers abruptly facing supply-chain bottlenecks and an increase…

Retailers and distributors are looking for their newest warehouses to do more than store goods these days.Companies including outdoor goods retailer Recreational Equipment Inc. and drug distributor McKesson Corp. are adding features such as natural light, automation aimed at easing work burdens and fitness centers and outdoor work areas to make the industrial sites more inviting as they compete to recruit and retain workers in a tight job market. The upgrades are a departure from the…