From SCDigest’s On-Target E-Magazine 10 Eighth Generation FCs Make Broad Use of Kiva Robots, more Automation Coming SCDigest Editorial Staff You know a company is a little different when it talks about what generation it is on for its distribution center design, like a Boeing aircraft or something. But that is just what Amazon.com is doing, in conjunction with opening up a relatively new DC or fulfillment center (FC), as Amazon likes to call them, in the Tacoma, WA area not too far from the company’s headquarters in Seattle. Amazon opened the FC for a tour by reporters and other dignitaries a few weeks ago. SCDigest Says: With AR and the head sets, the bar codes can be "scanned"/confirmed simply by looking at them with the camera. The one million square foot Dupont, WA FC is one of about 10 the company considers "eighth generation" designs, among the 109 or so FCs it currently operates worldwide. What most characterizes the eight generation FCs is the use of the famous orange Kiva System robots. Amazon surprisingly acquired Boston-based Kiva for $775 million in early 2012. The Kiva robots are a form of automated guided vehicle (AGV) that can be said to have ushered in the "goods to picker" movement that is currently very hot in the distribution and materials handling industries. A thousand or more Kiva robots carrying inventory move across a grid-like path inside the 10 Amazon DCs, arriving at a one of dozens of work centers staffed with Amazon associates. The associates work with a "pick-to-light" type display, which informs each picker which totes need the SKU that robot is carrying. The associate complete the picks, and the robot whisks away to another associate. All this eliminates travel time for the associates, who traditionally of course would have […]