Amazon’s robot workers to help run Australia’s warehouse

Image credit: Amazon

Amazon.com’s Australian branch is set to move into the country’s biggest warehouse, where a fleet of robots will help operate a facility the size of about 29 soccer pitches.

The 209,000 square metre (2,249,657 square feet) four-level fulfillment centre is due to be complete in 2025 and will house as many as 25 million small items sold by the e-commerce giant, which entered the Australian market in 2017.

The facility, at Craigieburn Logistics Estate to Melbourne’s north, will create 2,000 jobs alongside the robots, Amazon Australia said in a press statement. A further 2,000 jobs would be created during construction and fit out phase, it said.

“Robots will work collaboratively with employees by moving ‘pods’ of inventory to them, reducing the time and effort that would otherwise be required for the employee to stow items for sale or pick them for new customer orders,” Amazon said in the statement.

The new facility is 9,000 square metres bigger than Amazon’s existing Western Sydney robotics site, which opened in 2022. The warehouse is owned by Australia’s biggest pension fund, AustralianSuper and is managed and developed by Logos.

Unlisted assets such as warehouses have become more appealing to Australia’s $3.5tn ($2.3tn) pension industry, as consumers continue to embrace online shopping.