Amazon opens facility in South Florida with more robots than workers

A new Amazon robotics delivery station is the first in Florida and Local 10 got an exclusive tour inside the prime location in Pembroke Park, Florida.

“This is a totally different system from what we’ve ever had,” said Paul Clemons, the operations manager. “That’s exciting,” he added.

In a streamlined process, the familiar gray vehicles roll in around 8 a.m. and are ready for the first wave to be loaded on a cuing pad. Then the drivers head in to get their designated packages to be delivered within a 45 miles radius of the site.

But how do all those packages get organized? That’s where the robots come in. More than 300 machines called “drives” can be loaded up with as much as a thousand pounds of packages.

We get to activate the robots by pushing a button to release the pod. Then it looks like the drives go dancing, but it isn’t freestyle. It’s a highly organized system to get the packages where they need to go.

By 8:30 a.m., the packages are loaded onto the vehicles and it’s time to hit the road.

Currently, there are 60 employees in this 24/7 operation taking up a 200,000 square foot space and they are hiring.

The Town of Pembroke Park Mayor Geoffrey Jacobs said that Pembroke Park has had no new developments in a long time.

“Having Amazon in Pembroke Park is a blessing as it brings much needed jobs to our diverse community. The town is comprised of half industrial businesses, a quarter commercial businesses and a quarter affordable residential housing. It’s a perfect fit for Pembroke Park, not to mention other new business development are following. I am very grateful to have Amazon here and I look forward to what the future holds for my town. "

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