--- title: "Amazon Now Has Machines to Automatically Box Up Orders" description: "According to a Reuters exclusive, Amazon is rolling out specially-made machines that are capable of boxing up orders — a job \"held by thousands.\"" date: "2019-05-13" modified: "2019-05-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/amazon-robot-box-orders" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "Amazon" - "automated jobs" - "automation" - "future jobs" --- # Amazon Now Has Machines to Automatically Box Up Orders ![According to a Reuters exclusive, Amazon is rolling out specially-made machines that are capable of boxing up orders — a job "held by thousands."]() *\Image: CNC/Victor Tangermann\* ## Box Bots According to a [*Reuters* exclusive](), Amazon is rolling out specially-made machines that are capable of boxing up orders — a job currently held by thousands of human workers. The CartonWrap robots build cardboard boxes around orders as they come down an assembly line, according *Reuters'* sources. Each one processes 600 to 700 boxes per hour — roughly five times as many as a human packer, according to the report. The implications for workers are grim. All told, *Reuters* estimates, the system could cut more than 1,300 jobs across 55 fulfillment centers in the United States. Ultimately, according to an anonymous source who worked on the new boxing machines, Amazon's objective is a warehouse so devoid of human workers that it doesn't even need lights. "A 'lights out' warehouse is ultimately the goal," an anonymous source told *Reuters*. ## Lights Out An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the tech to *Reuters*. "We are piloting this new technology with the goal of increasing safety, speeding up delivery times and adding efficiency across our network," they said. Still, Amazon isn't quite ready yet to completely replace human workers. Earlier this month the director of Amazon Robotics Fulfillment, [told reporters]() it would be "at least 10 years" before Amazon could entirely automate the fulfillment process. **READ MORE:** [Exclusive: Amazon rolls out machines that pack orders and replace jobs]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on Amazon's warehouses:** [Amazon Says It Could Have Fully Automated Warehouses in 10 Years]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()