Amazon.com Inc. has a new artificial intelligence tool designed to solve a major problem with its expedited delivery equipment: drivers rummaging through cluttered vans looking for packages at every stop. announced.
Amazon said Wednesday at a media event in Nashville highlighting the company’s logistics and online shopping efforts that the technology will mark packages being delivered at each stop with a green circle, and packages that are subsequently delivered will be marked with a green circle. Said a red X will appear.
The tool, called “Vision Assisted Package Retrieval,” has been in development since 2020 and will be rolled out to 1,000 Amazon vans next year, cutting typical delivery routes by about 30 minutes, the company said. .
The tool uses computer vision technology originally developed in Amazon warehouses to identify products without the use of barcode scanners. The technology was adapted to the van’s narrow cargo area and integrated with delivery route navigation software.
“Delivery drivers can make sure they get the right package by stopping by, reading labels, and manually checking important identifying information like the customer’s name and address. You no longer have to spend time organizing your belongings,” Amazon said in a release. “They can simply look for the green light for VAPR, grab it and go.”
The announcement highlights Amazon’s shifting priorities under CEO Andy Jassy, who took over the role from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021. Bezos has wowed the media with big announcements that look far into the future, including a fleet of autonomous delivery drones (the project is still in progress). It entered the testing phase more than 10 years after he announced it.
Under Mr. Jassy, he steered the company through layoffs and layoffs. Dozens of moonshot projects canceledwill focus on short-term efforts to cut costs and make Amazon’s low-margin e-commerce business more attractive to Wall Street investors who tend to worry about thin margins. It is being
The Seattle-based company relies on a network of small businesses that use 100,000 vans to deliver packages and employ 390,000 drivers. By reducing delivery times, Amazon is able to limit the amount it pays its delivery service partners, who typically hire hourly drivers.
Amazon also announced several other initiatives.
- The AI Shopping Guide is designed to help customers research more than 100 products, from TVs and dog food to headphones and facial moisturizers.
- Next Generation Fulfillment Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. It uses artificial intelligence and robotics to assist employees in picking and packing orders.
- Next year, same-day delivery of prescription drugs will be expanded to reach nearly half of the United States.
(Other efforts will be updated at the end of the article.)
