In a further push to accelerate the engagement of robots as part of its workforce; Amazon said Friday it has acquired a Belgian company, Cloostermans, which designs technology to manage the flow of robots through warehouses.
The acquisition adds to the e-commerce giant’s investments in tools to automate its logistics network, a move that has seen significant increase in recent time. Amazon has acquired other robotics in Europe as its workforce dwindles amid labor disputes.
Though Amazon did not disclose details of the deal, Cloostermans will be added to the division of 2012-launched Amazon Robotics.
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“We’re thrilled to be joining the Amazon family and extending the impact we can have at a global scale,” said Frederik Berckmoes-Joos, CEO of Cloostermans, in a statement in a blog post published by Amazon. “Amazon has raised the bar for how supply chain technologies can benefit employees and customers, and we’re looking forward to being part of the next chapter of this innovation.”
A decade after the acquisition of Kiva Systems, its first foray into robotics, Amazon has acquired iRobotm, Dispatch, Zoox and Canvas technology in deals worth billions of dollars.
“Amazon’s investments in robotics and technology are supporting how we build a better and safer workplace for our employees and deliver for our customers,” Ian Simpson, vice president of global robotics at Amazon, said in a company blog post.
However, the push is believed to have been inspired by labor shortage in the US, which recently has seen the rise in companies shutting down because they can’t find workers.
Cloostermans builds technology to move and stack heavy palettes and totes, and robotics used to package products for customer orders. Amazon has been using those products or its e-commerce operation since 2019, making it a long customer of Cloostermans. The ecommerce leviathan said it’s making the acquisition to ramp up its R&D and deployment in that area.
The technology, the company said, will help robots operate alongside its warehouse employees, including to improve worker safety and to reduce packaging waste.
Amazon’s decade-long foray into robotics has seen the deployment of more than 520,000 robots in its warehouses. The company said it recently added its first fully autonomous mobile robot, which can maneuver around employees and does not need to be restricted to certain areas of a warehouse.
Amazon’s romance with robot staff was notable in the wake of Covid-19, which came with a level of unprecedented surge in retail sales. With the safety restrictions limiting human contact, Amazon touted drone delivery.
But a lot has changed since then. With the safety restrictions lifted as the pandemic’s waves die down, Amazon is relaxing its logistics expansion plan as the Covid-induced surge in e-commerce orders has dropped significantly.
However, Amazon is yet to contain its labor crisis. With unionization growing across its warehouses amid staff shortage, it looks like robots will form an integral part of the company’s future as it is counting on automation as part of its strategy to serve its growing markets.
Cloostermans was founded in 1884 as a manufacturer of machinery for textiles manufacturers, and has been redesigned over the years to serve as an engineering and automation company. Although Amazon did not share terms of the deal, Cloostermans’ about 200 employees will likely form part of the deal – joining Amazon.