- The video provides a virtual tour of an Amazon Fulfillment Center
- The center is named BHX1 and is located in Rugeley, near Birmingham
- The tour showcases the process of receiving, stowing, and packing items
- The center uses robotics to assist with tasks such as moving shelves and picking items
- The system uses a random store method to determine where items are placed
- Once an order is placed, the robots locate the item and bring it to a working station for packing
- Packed items go through a scanning and labeling process before being sorted and sent to shipping
- Parcels are sorted and sent to trucks for delivery
- The video concludes with a thank you and hope for future in-person tours.

Go behind the scenes with our tour leaders Adam, Marta, Paul, and Toni. This 10-minute film takes guests inside our Fulfillment Centers to see what happens when you shop on Amazon.

Please click the CC icon on the bottom right of the video to turn on captions.

If you thought this video was interesting or have questions book your FREE live virtual tour Today at www.amazontours.com

This one-hour tour, hosted by our tour leaders, combines 360-degree footage, video, and live broadcasts from multiple Fulfillment Centers to replicate the experience of our in-person tours. It also includes live Q&A.

during COVID-19 is not being able to take you through our fulfillment

We're still here and working hard to get your parcels delivered safely.

I always thought we'd take this chance to bring the tour to you, wherever you are.

Welcome to the Amazon Fulfillment Center tour.

We're really excited to be showing you around our building.

My name's Paul, and I'm going to be your first tour guide of the day.

This building is 1 of our Amazon Fulfilment Centres, or FC for short.

This building is 750,000 square feet, or 10 football pitches if you want a comparison.

All of our buildings are named after the nearest international airport.

The nearest international airport to this building is Birmingham.

And I think you'll agree, the view from where we are now is quite spectacular.

This is Sarah, and Sarah's making 1 of our famous boxes that turn up at your doorstep.

This box has been on quite a journey, but let's go and see where it all started.

So let's go and see how they're not received.

This is where the whole process starts from.

It's actually a combination of people, technology, and high-tech computer algorithms.

Over half the items sold on the Amazon website by our small and medium-sized business are done this by using Fulfilled by Amazon.

Now this is where we will bring the items in, We'll pick the items, we'll pack the items, we'll ship them out, and we'll even take care of the customer services for them.

And more and more businesses are taking this up each year.

As the items make their way up the conveyor belt, 1 of our associates will take the items off and will scan the barcode that is on the items.

Now once we've done this we will then place the item into a black tote.

Once it's the items inside the tote it goes back onto our conveyor belt which lets us distribute the item throughout the FC and it will make its way to our stowing area.

So we're gonna go upstairs and I'm gonna pass you over to Tony.

Now that we've received our items, they're now ready to stow.

The way it works is that we scan our item's barcode, we then check it for damages, we then pop it onto the shelf, and then we scan the barcode of that shelf location.

Once it's on there, we know exactly where that item is at any time, and we can immediately go to that when we go into our next process.

This method of stowing has been very successful.

However, over recent years, we've developed something even more exciting.

So let's head over to our robotics site with Marta.

Hi folks, my name's Marta and I'm here in Danstable at 1 of our cutting-edge Amazon Robotics Functioning Centers.

The Amazon robots are activated once the associates logs into their working station to perform his or her task.

The robots are bringing yellow shelves to our working stations where our associates can fill up pots with more products or we can pick up your orders.

Our orange rectangular robots are going underneath these pots and the lifting device is picking up a shelf just a bit from the floor so it can be moved to our working station.

Let's see our stone station so I can show you how we are filling up pots with the products.

Our associates are asked to assign containers to themselves.

The next step is to pick up an item from the container.

Then we just have to scan this barricade and find the space in the shelving units for this product.

However, you're wondering if the system tells us where we should put this product.

So that's mean that the most popular items are spread across all the levels and not all in 1 place.

After the process is completed, then we've got digital and physical match in our system and all these items are available on our website for the customers.

At Amazon, we are continuously looking for ways to make improvements.

And this robotic arm is 1 of our newer features.

It's actually called a palletiser, and it helps us move heavy torts around quickly and safely.

Once you hit the Buy Now button on the Amazon website, this is the beginning of our outbound operations processes.

Once you order a product, the information about the item will go to our system and then the robots will be informed about which item you've ordered and where it is located.

Then the robots will pick up a pod and bring it to our working stations facing the correct site.

And then it's quite easy, all the information is on the screen.

Then we just have to pick up the item from the shelf and put it to the correct container.

In 1 container, we can have products ordered by several different customers.

If you would order, let's say, 5 items, it's really rare that 1 picker only will pick up all of your items.

More likely, they will be picked up by several different pickers.

All the items you could find in this building fit into our containers.

We also sell bigger items such as kayaks or TVs even and we store them in our so-called non-sortable footing centers.

Once your products are picked up They will travel in a toy down to our multi-pack area where they will be packed by our associates.

And here we are in the flow room at LCY2.

This is where operations to my right are watching the workflow to make sure everybody's delivery is leaving on time.

To the left of me here are the engineers.

These guys are watching the conveyor belts.

We have 16 miles in this building and they're making sure it's all working smoothly.

This is where all of your items end up after they've been picked.

And they will then come down the lines, and they'll be sorted into single pack and multiple pack.

Just behind me, I have Sebi packing on singles today.

So all of their boxes, their envelopes, and their tape is always on this station or easily accessible.

And they do move around onto different processes as is required.

So what he'll do is he will scan his item onto the system.

It will tell him exactly what size box he requires.

We then have the tape that is cut exactly to the size of that box, so we do not waste anything.

Once he's finished packing, it will then go onto the line and then sent down to SLAM and then to shipping.

Now that we've finished packing our box and popped it onto the conveyor belt, it's now going to come to what we call SLAM.

SLAM stands for Scan, Label, Apply and Manifest, And this is where all of our parcels pass through before going down to shipping.

This label is applied by a little bit of air pressure.

And each of these parcels is going to be scanned with the little white barcode that we applied at the pack station.

And each 1 of these barcodes is going to identify what's inside that box.

Once that's been scanned, it will then go through into the system automatically and it will tell the system which address label is required.

Once these parcels have continued through this path, it will get separated into large and small boxes and these will continue down to shipping.

What's pretty cool about this machine is that it can do this whole process without stopping the parcel.

So that label is supplied straight away and it continues and generates within a matter of seconds the next label.

They're going to be sorted and then they'll be sent onto the trucks via pallets and ATS parts.

As you can see behind me, we have some chutes.

These are where our parcels are sorted and sent down the lines.

So each 1 of these conveyor belts is a different distribution centre.

And there's workers behind me are going to scan those parcels and send them off onto the correct pallet or ATS car.

And then they will then be scanned into the truck that needs to go to that area.

Our trucks, they come throughout the day.

They are given a time slot when they can come into the back of the building.

And then they have a certain amount of time for those parcels to get on side that truck.

Once it's loaded, they will then close the truck and send it on its way.

Thank you so much for coming around with us today.

We hope you Keep safe, and we hope to see you in person on 1 of our tours soon.


Speaker 0: 1 of the things we miss so much

Speaker 1: during COVID-19 is not being able to take you through our fulfillment

Speaker 2: center in person.

Speaker 0: We're still here and working hard to get your parcels delivered safely. I always thought we'd take this chance to bring the tour to you, wherever you are. So welcome.

Speaker 3: Welcome to welcome to Satu.

Speaker 1: Welcome to the Amazon Fulfillment Center tour. We're really excited to be showing you around our building.

Speaker 0: ♪♪

Speaker 3: Hi, everybody. My name's Paul, and I'm going to be your first tour guide of the day. Today, we're in Rugeley. This building is 1 of our Amazon Fulfilment Centres, or FC for short. This building is 750,000 square feet, or 10 football pitches if you want a comparison.

All of our buildings are named after the nearest international airport. The nearest international airport to this building is Birmingham. So this building is called BHX1. And I think you'll agree, the view from where we are now is quite spectacular. This is Sarah, and Sarah's making 1 of our famous boxes that turn up at your doorstep.

Thank you, Sarah. This box has been on quite a journey, but let's go and see where it all started. So let's go and see how they're not received.

Speaker 1: This is where the whole process starts from. It's actually a combination of people, technology, and high-tech computer algorithms. Over half the items sold on the Amazon website by our small and medium-sized business are done this by using Fulfilled by Amazon. Now this is where we will bring the items in, We'll pick the items, we'll pack the items, we'll ship them out, and we'll even take care of the customer services for them. And more and more businesses are taking this up each year.

As the items make their way up the conveyor belt, 1 of our associates will take the items off and will scan the barcode that is on the items. Now once we've done this we will then place the item into a black tote. Once it's the items inside the tote it goes back onto our conveyor belt which lets us distribute the item throughout the FC and it will make its way to our stowing area. So we're gonna go upstairs and I'm gonna pass you over to Tony.

Speaker 0: Now that we've received our items, they're now ready to stow. The way it works is that we scan our item's barcode, we then check it for damages, we then pop it onto the shelf, and then we scan the barcode of that shelf location. Once it's on there, we know exactly where that item is at any time, and we can immediately go to that when we go into our next process. This method of stowing has been very successful. However, over recent years, we've developed something even more exciting.

So let's head over to our robotics site with Marta.

Speaker 2: Hi folks, my name's Marta and I'm here in Danstable at 1 of our cutting-edge Amazon Robotics Functioning Centers. This building is what we call LPN4. Do you remember the naming system? Perfect. The Amazon robots are activated once the associates logs into their working station to perform his or her task.

The robots are bringing yellow shelves to our working stations where our associates can fill up pots with more products or we can pick up your orders. This is 1 of our shelving units. Our orange rectangular robots are going underneath these pots and the lifting device is picking up a shelf just a bit from the floor so it can be moved to our working station. Let's see our stone station so I can show you how we are filling up pots with the products. Our associates are asked to assign containers to themselves.

The next step is to pick up an item from the container. Then we just have to scan this barricade and find the space in the shelving units for this product. However, you're wondering if the system tells us where we should put this product. It's completely random. We call it random store method.

So that's mean that the most popular items are spread across all the levels and not all in 1 place. After the process is completed, then we've got digital and physical match in our system and all these items are available on our website for the customers.

Speaker 0: At Amazon, we are continuously looking for ways to make improvements.

Speaker 1: And this robotic arm is 1 of our newer features. It's actually called a palletiser, and it helps us move heavy torts around quickly and safely.

Speaker 2: Once you hit the Buy Now button on the Amazon website, this is the beginning of our outbound operations processes. Once you order a product, the information about the item will go to our system and then the robots will be informed about which item you've ordered and where it is located. Then the robots will pick up a pod and bring it to our working stations facing the correct site. And then it's quite easy, all the information is on the screen. Then we just have to pick up the item from the shelf and put it to the correct container.

In 1 container, we can have products ordered by several different customers. If you would order, let's say, 5 items, it's really rare that 1 picker only will pick up all of your items. More likely, they will be picked up by several different pickers. All the items you could find in this building fit into our containers. We also sell bigger items such as kayaks or TVs even and we store them in our so-called non-sortable footing centers.

Once your products are picked up They will travel in a toy down to our multi-pack area where they will be packed by our associates.

Speaker 3: And here we are in the flow room at LCY2. This is where operations to my right are watching the workflow to make sure everybody's delivery is leaving on time. To the left of me here are the engineers. These guys are watching the conveyor belts. We have 16 miles in this building and they're making sure it's all working smoothly.

Speaker 0: This is pack. This is where all of your items end up after they've been picked. And they will then come down the lines, and they'll be sorted into single pack and multiple pack. Just behind me, I have Sebi packing on singles today. And he's putting 1 item inside each box.

Everything that they need is here. So all of their boxes, their envelopes, and their tape is always on this station or easily accessible. And they do move around onto different processes as is required. So what he'll do is he will scan his item onto the system. It will tell him exactly what size box he requires.

We then have the tape that is cut exactly to the size of that box, so we do not waste anything. Once he's finished packing, it will then go onto the line and then sent down to SLAM and then to shipping. Now that we've finished packing our box and popped it onto the conveyor belt, it's now going to come to what we call SLAM. SLAM stands for Scan, Label, Apply and Manifest, And this is where all of our parcels pass through before going down to shipping. This label is applied by a little bit of air pressure.

And each of these parcels is going to be scanned with the little white barcode that we applied at the pack station. And each 1 of these barcodes is going to identify what's inside that box. Once that's been scanned, it will then go through into the system automatically and it will tell the system which address label is required. Once these parcels have continued through this path, it will get separated into large and small boxes and these will continue down to shipping. What's pretty cool about this machine is that it can do this whole process without stopping the parcel.

So that label is supplied straight away and it continues and generates within a matter of seconds the next label. This is our final stop. This is shipping. This is where all of our parcels end up. They're going to be sorted and then they'll be sent onto the trucks via pallets and ATS parts.

As you can see behind me, we have some chutes. These are where our parcels are sorted and sent down the lines. So each 1 of these conveyor belts is a different distribution centre. And there's workers behind me are going to scan those parcels and send them off onto the correct pallet or ATS car. And then they will then be scanned into the truck that needs to go to that area.

Our trucks, they come throughout the day. They are given a time slot when they can come into the back of the building. And then they have a certain amount of time for those parcels to get on side that truck. Once it's loaded, they will then close the truck and send it on its way. This is the last stop of our tour.

Thank you so much for coming around with us today. We hope you Keep safe, and we hope to see you in person on 1 of our tours soon. Thanks for taking our tour today. It's been a pleasure

Speaker 3: to show you around.

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Amazon Fulfillment Center Video Tour