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Summer 2021

Amazon Robotic Service (ARS)

Patil Girija
Portland State University

John Mareena
Portland State University

Jin Fenny
Portland State University

Kandula Swapna
Portland State University

Ketsaraporn Kaewkhiaolueang
Portland State University

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Girija, Patil; Mareena, John; Fenny, Jin; Swapna, Kandula; and Kaewkhiaolueang, Ketsaraporn, "Amazon
Robotic Service (ARS)" (2021). Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects. 2309.
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 E GINEBUN1G&TEGHNIUOGVMANIA1GEMENT

Amazon Robotic Service(ARS)

WAREHOUS ROBOT-AS-A-SERVICE
AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTIC
ROBOTS (AMR) PICKERS

Course Name: ETM 590 Synthesis

Instructor: Dr. Turgul Daim
Term: Summer 2021
Authors: Girija Patil
Mareena John
Fenny Jin
Swapna Kandula
Ketsaraporn Kaewkhiaolueang(Amy)

1
Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Mission Statement 3

Introduction 3

Launch of Kiva robotics 3

Amazon Robotic Family 4

Initial Market Segmentation 5

Market Need 6

Market Trend 7

Market Opportunity 8

Market Research 10

Competitor Analysis 12

Target Customers 16

Porter’s Five Forces 18

Market Strategies 18

Product Strategy 18

Pricing Strategy 19

Promotions Strategy/Marketing 19

Place and Distribution Strategy 21

Appendix 26

References 29

2
Table of Figures

Figure 1: Kiva Robots 6

Figure 2: Amazon Robotic Family 7
Figure 3: Initial Market Segmentation 8
Figure 4: Global Ecommerce sales growth [19] 9
Figure 5: AMR Global Market trend 10
Figure 6: Global AMR Market [18] 12
Figure 7: Amazon Robots SWOT Analysis [ 10-11] 13
Figure 8: Competitor Analysis [12] 14
Figure 9: Competitor Factor Analysis (use point system) 16
Figure 10: Competitor Analysis using Radar Chart 20
Figure 11: Marketing Communication 21
Figure 12: Drivers 23
Figure 13: Drivers vs. Products QFD 25
Figure 14: Products vs. Technology QFD 25
Figure 15: Technology Gap Analysis 26
Figure 16: Technology Roadmap 28
Figure 17: Global Warehouse Automation Market size 28
Figure 18: Total Availability Market(TAM) 28
Figure 19: Service Availability Market(SAM) 29
Figure 20: Service obtainable Market(SOM) 30

3
Abstract
Warehouse robots are the most effective replacement to minimize the pressure and availability
of manual labor. The warehouse robots are mainly used for heavy lifting, picking up packages,
transporting, and other tasks in the facility. The growing market of Internet of Things, Artificial
Intelligence, and machine learning in the warehouse industry is forecasted to grow in the robots
market in the near future. In order to build the final product i.e technology roadmap our team did
market research, analysed competitors for the company, identified target customers, analyzed
market, product and pricing strategy and at the end came up with the Technology Roadmap.

Mission Statement
Our mission is to propose to Amazon to add a new branch to their service department called
Amazon Robotics Services. They could either provide Robots as a service or rent the robots to
small to medium-sized companies. We think that Amazon could make use of the AWS service
which they already have with Robotics technology. We are coming up with the Technology
roadmap for Amazon to deliver this ARS in the next 2-5 years.

Introduction
The main purpose of Amazon bringing the automation in the warehouse was not to eliminate
jobs but to automate tasks so that companies could reassign their people to build new
technology or new products.

With the increase in demand for products Because of changing trends, Amazon needs a robotic
system to supercharge its order fulfillment process and make same-day delivery a widespread
reality.

In 2012, Amazon spent $775 million to purchase a young robotics company called Kiva
Systems that gave it ownership over a new breed of mobile robots that could carry shelves of
products from worker to worker, reading barcodes on the ground for directions along the way.

Launch of Kiva robotics

Amazon has been the biggest competitor to other e-commerce companies like Walmart and
Target. Because of this tough competition, other e-commerce companies have invested
substantially to catch up with Amazon. Seeing this growing market, software and hardware
vendors started their warehouse-related products to solve this issue. These robots and services
have been helping warehouse workers find shelf towers of goods in warehouses, lift things from
the ground, deliver goods to people in the delivery department, and so on. In Amazon's
warehouse robotics history, they used Kiva, a robotics company launched in the 2000s. Initially,
Kiva Systems had customers including Amazon, Crate & Barrel, GAP, and Diapers.com.
Amazon bought off Kiva robots in 2012, and Kiva has been exclusively used for Amazon after
other customers' contracts expired. [1]

4
 Figure 1: Kiva Robots [2]

Amazon Robotic Family

There are many robots other than the Kiva robots used in Amazon warehouses for many
different purposes.

The original Kiva: This is the orange color robot initially called DU1000 because they are
capable of 1000 pound lifting capacity. These robots are called Amazon robotics now, but most
people know them as Kiva robots. These robots are used for moving pods and shelves faster
and cheaper. Each robot is about 75cm long and 60 cm wide (2.5 by 2 feet), and it fits nicely
underneath a pod that measures roughly 1x1m. Each robot is only 30cm (1 foot) high, weighs
around 110kg (250 pounds) and it can lift 450kg (1000 pounds). The robots can move 5 km/h (3
miles per hour) or walk comfortably [2].

The Hercules: These robots were introduced in 2007 and they were called DU 3000 since they
have a 3000-pound lifting capacity. The Hercules are designed for heavy lifting. These robots
are similar to Kiva robots, but they are capable of lifting much more weight. The Hercules are
larger as compared to their original robot, and they have larger pods [2].

The Pegasus: They were named pegasus after mythical winged horses. They perform similar
tasks compared to Kiva. However, they are only 19 cm, 10cm less than the original Kiva. That is
why they have more space to store stuff. It can lift 560 KG, and they have only half the parts and
are very economical. There are speculations that Amazon will use these robots in their new
fulfillment centers, especially close to the city centers. The beliefs are that these robots would
have more work in the high-density population areas and the robots need to get the assigned
tasks done faster. With high efficiency, this would allow more products to fit into a warehouse
and reduce investment costs [2].

The Robostow: These are the "normal-looking" robots who do not move from the place
because they are installed in. The Robostow are bought from third-party vendors, and they are
used to move the pallets around. The Robostow are found in many fulfillment centers [2].

5
Drones: Amazon has plans to use them to deliver packages the last mile from the warehouse
to the customers. They are right now in the testing phase. These drones can fly up to 15 miles
carrying 5 pounds. They will be tested more over the coming years before being implemented in
delivery services [2].

Figure 2: Amazon Robotic Family [2]

original Kiva The pegasus

Robostow The Drone
X-sort Drive
The Amazon Scout

Initial Market Segmentation

Our market research identified the Global Robotics market segmented by robot type, function,
end-users, and geography shown in the picture. The type of robots is classified into SCARA,
cylindrical, parallel, mobile, cartesian, and stationery articulated robots. Among these robot
types, mobile robots are most popularly used in 2017, followed by articulated robots. The
primary reason is that mobile robots are smart and autonomous. The growth of warehouse
house robots is due to the increase in e-commerce, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, and
automotive industry.

The robotics market is categorized into pick & place, assembling, disassembling, transportation,
and packaging based on function. The most used function by warehouse robotics is the pick &
place, followed by packaging. The transportations' function is growing more complex due to the
growing demand for mobile robots and increased use in various e-commerce, food & beverage,
metal & machinery, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries.

Based on the end-users' perspective, the warehouse robotics market is segmented into
e-commerce, automotive, food & beverages, electronics & electrical, metal, pharmaceuticals,
and others. Among these, the E-commerce industry uses the most warehouse robots, followed
by the automotive industry. The demand for same-day delivery or pickup increased the use of
warehouse robots for packaging, palletizing, and transportation in the food and beverage
industry.

The warehouse robotics market has been segmented based on geography as North America,
Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. North America is the most dominant and largest in the
warehouse robotics market, which accounted for $805 million in 2016 [3].

6
The Asia-Pacific market is the fastest-growing warehouse robotics market due to increased
e-commerce, food and beverage, metal & machinery, and automotive industries in China, South
Korea, and Japan [3].

Figure 3: Initial Market Segmentation

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Market Need
COVID changed the customer purchase behavior, and the customers are now inclined more
towards online ordering. This trend has pushed retailers to compete to provide better customer
service. Better customer service would demand more inventory transparency, quick delivery
cycles, etc. Online retail sales increased 32.4% year over year in 2020 and are up 39% in Q1
2021 [4]. According to industry experts, the demand is going to increase further. Retailers have
reacted to the situation by increasing the inventory levels to hedge against future disruptions.

7
Experts suggested that businesses in the long term may increase inventories by 5-10% to
minimize the risk of demand shocks [5].

Figure 4: Global Ecommerce sales growth [19]

Global Ecommerce Sales (2019 to 2024)

$6.388 trillion

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The retailers and 3rd party logistics companies realized that there is a need to add more
warehouse capacity to manage inventory and achieve fast fulfillment rates. The capacity will be
spread out in smaller, more local, or decentralized warehouses to meet the customer's delivery
expectations. Analysts predict that 1 billion square feet of demand for warehouse space by 2025
owing to e-commerce sales will reach $1.5 trillion by 2025 [6].

With an increase in warehouse space, there is a need to make these facilities more
operationally efficient to meet order fill rates. With the adoption of warehouse technologies like
warehouse management systems, automated picking tools, automated guided vehicles, and
automated inventory control platforms, IoT platforms are rising. These technologies would help
mitigate issues like labor availability, inventory inaccuracies, slower picking processes, etc.

The commoditization of technologies like cloud computing, 5G, Internet of things, which are the
backbone to develop automated warehouse robotic tools or devices, pushed more companies to
offer solutions in this space. Also, customers started to view warehouse technologies as
necessary investments to achieve operational goals and meet customer demand on time.
Warehouse automation is a space to thrive in the coming years, and there is a good market
demand for the right solutions.

8
Market Trend

To meet ever-growing customer expectations and improve operational efficiencies, retailer and
e-commerce companies are looking towards Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). These
robots are used to pick, transport, and sort items within the distribution facilities without any
manual intervention. The AMRs leverage the vision cameras, sensors, integrated warehouse
maps, and execution software system to perform various operations.

Figure 5: AMR Global Market trend [25]

Mobile Robots are expected to touch the mark of 1

Million Units by 2026

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020E 2021E 2022E 2023 E 202 E 2025 E 2026E

log istics ~ - lnstall=d B= - AMR

Another trend in warehousing is adopting Micro fulfillment centers or decentralized warehouse

locations which can help to provide same-day or next-day delivery. Grocery retailers are the
frontrunners in adopting Micro fulfillment centers. A forecast suggests that micro-fulfillment
centers will fulfill approximately 8% of total US online grocery sales in 2025 [7].

Amazon, the pioneer in warehouse robotics, started using AMRs for cases where strenuous
movements of goods were needed. This strategy helps to prevent injuries and promote
warehouse safety for workers. By 2025, it has plans to invest over $300 million into safety
projects using Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) [8].

9
Market Opportunity

Total Available Market:

The global autonomous mobile robots market size was valued at USD 29.3 billion in 2019, and
the market size is expected to reach $220.6 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)of
18.3% from 2020 to 2030 across all industries like logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, military,
mining, etc. Logistics & warehousing industry is the frontrunner with almost 30% of Global
AMRs market share [4]. Globally, the Asia-Pacific region dominated the AMR market in 2019.
This is due to the growth of the e-commerce industry in countries such as Japan, China, South
Korea, India, and these countries have an increasing demand for smart and efficient
warehouses [6].

Figure 6: Global AMR Market [18]

GLOBAL AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS MARKET

APAC
Fastest-Growing Market
By Region (2020- 2030)

.
1- Largest Market

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.!!«•~ . . . By Region (2019)

Service Available Market:

With Covid, the additional warehouse space is increasing faster in the U.S. It is estimated that
200 million square feet of warehouse space will be added in the next couple of years. Issues
like the labor shortage and the demand to fulfill orders on the same day push the retailers in this
region to go the extra mile to develop solutions to automate the processes. Amazon is raising
the bar, which is using almost 200,000 AMRs across its warehouses. The Warehouse robotics
market is likely to be worth $4.6 billion globally this year. The North American autonomous
mobile robot market is expected to reach $25.14 billion in 2025, growing by 12.6% annually over
the forecast years[8].

10
Online Grocery has unique needs to fulfill orders quickly - within hours of order placement,
looking towards building decentralized warehouses, automating the locations with the help of
warehouse technologies.

Service Obtainable Market:

During the pandemic, e-commerce has seen rising volumes of orders, higher demand for
same-day delivery, and delivery within hours in the grocery industry. This can be achieved by
installing MFCs in existing premises. The automated MFC market is forecast to grow to just
above $5.5bn in 2025. Up from $136m in 2020 - a CAGR of 104% (including project and
recurring revenues). Interact Analysis forecasts that by 2025 over 2,100 micro-fulfillment centres
will be installed, among which 69% will be built between 2024 and 2025[9]. It is also predicted
that in 2025 the grocery sector will account for 45% of micro-fulfillment automation revenues[9].
Retailers will make use of their existing real estate assets before constructing purpose-built
micro-fulfillment centers. For this reason, grocers will favor retail-based MFCs, where the MFC
is co-located with the retail store, due to their extensive real estate networks. On the other hand,
general merchandise retailers, tend to have fewer and smaller real estate assets, will favor
distribution center-based MFCs.[9]

The number of new automated micro-fulfillment centers is growing at a tremendous rate in the
United States. This gives a significant market opportunity for Amazon Robotics to provide
warehouse robots (Kiva robots) for MFC automation in a fulfillment-as-a-service model.

Market Research

SWOT Analysis:

The SWOT analysis in Fig.7 provides thorough research on Amazon RaaS. Amazon has
undoubtedly improved its efficiency and safety and can automate inventory flow at Amazon
fulfillment centers by using Amazon Robots. Amazon Robots are built with Artificial Intelligence
and Machine Learning(ML) to automate the critical functionalities at the Amazon warehouse.
The Kiva robots (Autonomous Mobile Robot), the Little Orange Robot and busiest employee at
the Amazon fulfillment centers, which are capable of moving shelves or pods around the
warehouse for faster and cheaper stowing and picking.

The lack of knowledge in interacting with the robots and job displacement are major challenges
that could affect the warehouse robotics market. The other challenge is that the robots still
cannot compete with humans' intuitive knowledge when they need to identify items in a bin.

11
 Figure 7: Amazon Robots SWOT Analysis [ 10-11]

ANALYSIS

• Quick Implementation • Robots might need to • Increase online sales • Risk aversion to new
• Improves speed of be customized to suit to leading to more technologies
operations the need of each warehouse space • Existing Competitors
• Avoids Labor shortage warehouse • Adoption of Robots • The lack of awareness
issues • Initial capital costs to improve human safety along with the
• Easily Scalable implement the Robotic in warehouse complexity in
• Warehouse picking service platform • Market needs across interacting with Robots
process will become • Hardware upgrades industries and
intelligent with Robots might take more time regions
• storing/sharing lot of data and effort • Using technologies like
about items being picked cloud computing, 5G,
• Replaces strenuous Internet of things to
activities increases safety develop automated
• Clients cannot be tech warehouse robotic
savvy to adopt and use tools or devices
Robots

Competitor Analysis

Amazon has gained a competitive advantage by purchasing a robotics company -Kiva Systems.
This move gave Amazon the technical foundation to build new warehouse robots. Today,
Amazon has 200k mobile robots working at their warehouse centers. These autonomous mobile
robots are mostly used to pick, transport, and sort items within the distribution facilities without
manual intervention. The global key players in making autonomous robots and providing them
Robot-as-a-service are Ronavi Robotics (Russia), 6 River(USA), Fetch Robotics(USA), Geek+
Robotics(China), InVia Robotics(USA), Locus Robotics(USA) and Magazino(Germany) [12].

The thorough competitor analysis of autonomous mobile robots is as shown in Figure 8. Here
we compared amazon’s autonomous mobile robot, the Original Kiva with the seven significant
competitors.

12
 Figure 8: Competitor Analysis [12]

Name Country Price Function Payload Areas Operatio Picking Used to Battery Go
Has
Capacity served nal Efficiency run live in RaaS
Speed time(ho
urs)

Ronavi
Per
Robotics Towing,
transacti Pick/Fetc 300-350 4-5
Russia 1500 kgs Europe 1.5 m/s Lifting, 6 Yes
on/per h Robot pcs/hour weeks
Picking
pick

6 River US$250
Put away,
K for 8
300-400 picking,
robots Pick/Fetc North 4-6
USA 160lbs 3.0 m/s Counting 7 Yes
(1st yr) + h Robot America pcs/hour weeks
$50K/an
nual

Fetch
annual or
Robotics picking
monthly Pick/Fetc 500-1500 North 200-300pcs 2-3
USA 2.0 m/s &removal 8 Yes
license/r h Robot kgs America /hour weeks
Recycling
obot

Geek+ Per
2.0m/s 300-600 Towing, 6-8
Robotics transacti Pick/Fetc 3-4
China 1000lbs Asia Lifting, Yes
on/per h Robot pcs/hour weeks
Roller,
pick

13
 Battery
Operatio Has
Payload Areas Picking run Go
Name Country Price Function nal Used to RaaS
Capacity served Efficiency time(ho live in
Speed
urs)

Amazon annual or 1000-300

Robotics 600-700 Towing,
monthly Pick/Fetc 0 North 8-10 1-2
USA 1.3 m/s Lifting, No
license/r h America Pcs/hour hours weeks
Picking
obot pounds

Locus
Robotics annual or
400-500
monthly Pick/Fetc North Faster 4-5
USA 4 2 m/s 6 Yes
license/r h Robot America pcs/hour Picking weeks
obot

Magazino Pick up,

300-400
6 cents Pick/Fetc lift and 2-3
Germany 5.8 kg Europe 1.5 m/s Max. 8 Yes
per pick h Robot deposit weeks
pcs/hour
boxes

InVia
Robotics
200-300
10 cents Pick/Fetc North Lifting, 1-2
USA 40lbs 25 m/s 10 Yes
per pick h Robot America Picking weeks
Pcs/hour

14
We were able to rank the price, quality, customizable product, unique feature, scalability, safety,
compact structure, intelligent scheduling and customer service based on the competitor analysis
on a five-point scale (5 represents very strong, 1 represents very weak) in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Competitor Factor Analysis (use point system)

Ronavi 6 Fetch Geek+ InVia Locus Magazi Amazon
Robotics River Robotics Robotics Robot Roboti no Robotics
ics cs

Low Price 4 3 4 4 4 4 5 4

Superior 3 4 5 5 4 3 4 5
Quality

Customiza 4 4 5 5 3 5 4 5
ble product

Unique 3 4 5 4 5 4 5 5
Feature

Scalability 3 4 5 5 5 4 4 5

Safety 4 5 4 5 5 4 3 5

Compact 5 4 5 5 4 4 3 5
Structure

Intelligent 4 3 4 5 5 5 4 5
scheduling

Customer 4 5 4 4 5 3 3 5
Service

15
From the radar chart shown in Figure 10, Amazon’s Kiva Robot gains advantageous position in
almost all the features.

Figure 10: Competitor Analysis using Radar Chart

Title
Low Price
5

Intel Iigent scheduling CU sto mizable product

Compact Structure

- - Roo,alli - - 5River --Fetch - - Geek+

- - lnVia - - Locus - - Magazino - - Amazon Robotics

Target Customers

Some of the customers that Amazon should target for providing ARS (Amazon Robotics
Service) includes customers from the following industries:

● Logistics: Material transportation is a labor-intensive task. AMRs can take over the
repetitive and non-value-adding tasks within productions and shipping facilities, freeing
up employee time and enabling them to focus on more important work. AMRs are widely
used to transport material and orders across warehouses and/or shipping facilities [13]

● E-commerce: Typical e-commerce tasks like order fulfillment, returns handling, material
transport, and inventory management can be easily performed by AMRs. Since multiple
accessories can be latched onto the AMR platform, their flexibility makes them suitable
for specific applications like sortation. In addition to the flexibility offered, another vital
consideration for e-commerce businesses today is safety, particularly given the ongoing
pandemic. Safe operations call for measures to protect employees as well as prevent
packages and products from being contaminated. Solutions integrated with robots can
automatically change pallets of sorted items, providing uncrewed, continuous and safe
operations [13].

16
● Warehousing: Distribution centers and warehouses can be massive, with the average
warehouse in the United States spanning across an area of more than 25,000 square
feet [13]. In warehousing, AMRs are best suitable for heavy lifting and goods
transporting applications. By utilizing AMRs for essential warehousing operation saves
time and sequencing movement ensures maximum efficiency. Automating warehouses
also allows for scalable operations depending on fluctuating demand [13-15].

Palletizing, another monotonous, repetitive task is another process suited for

automation. “With AMR platforms, lift plates, and robotic arms, palletizing can be almost
completely automated. Palletizing robots can complete every step of the process –
loading, transport, and unloading – autonomously, efficiently, and accurately [13]”

● AMRs and Mobile Manipulators for Manufacturing: There is no specialised

infrastructure required for operating AMRs [3]. They function seamlessly inside an
existing layout without the need for major modifications to existing operations. The
adaptability of AMRs make them apt for the dynamic nature of the manufacturing
industry[1].

AMRs integrated with accessories such as robotic arms or conveyors can help in the
production process in addition to transporting in-process parts and finished goods.
Mobile manipulators or cobots which are AMRs with robotic arms, for example, can sort,
pick, and pack products while also moving dynamically to multiple locations [13].

Static conveyors are typically used in line work to help accelerate production and sorting.
By adding a conveyor to an AMR, conveyor capabilities become more flexible and
mobile. AMRs with built-in conveyors can be linked to static conveyors to move products
more efficiently throughout a facility. AMRs equipped with attachments that can lift
pallets and connect to carts enable the robots to load/unload payloads and, in some
cases, connect to carts without the need for human intervention. This combination of cart
transport and loading/unloading in a single AMR is a relatively new capability, but it will
open up new possibilities for autonomous robots [13].

● Data Centers: Secure autonomous transportation has become an important part of

operations at data and research centers, resulting in a new application for AMRs.
Autonomous robots equipped with lock boxes and cabinets can be used to transport
high-value materials securely while guaranteeing that the proper protocol is followed.
This also allows for quick, precise, and easy documentation of the process [13].

● Healthcare: Another innovative application of robots is its utilization in healthcare -

AMRs are an efficient way for streamlining the transport of supplies and medications
throughout a medical facility. This is especially important in infectious disease units
because it prevents nurses from coming into contact with potential contaminants while
still ensuring that patients receive proper treatment. Additionally, “medical AMRs can be
used in sanitation by outfitting robots with virus-killing UV lights or decontamination
sprays that clean up a room or space without exposing people to potential harm [13].”

17
Porter’s Five Forces
Porter's Five Forces is a simple framework for assessing and evaluating the competitive
strength and position of a business organization. Following is the analysis of Porter’s Five
forces:
● Threat of New Entrant: The threat of new entrants is low as it would require huge
investments for procuring robots/systems needed for automating warehousing. Amazon
has an advantage over other brands on economies of scale because of its large number
of fulfilment centers and logistics capabilities. Although new robotics service providers
can enter the market, they will not be able to benefit from economies of scale to the
same extent as Amazon.

● Customer Bargaining Power: Bargaining power of buyers is medium. Customers can

be price conscious. If Amazon does not provide high-quality service at the best price,
customers will seek alternatives in the market., they will go for its alternatives in the
market. Amazon can overcome this by clearly positioning its service offering as
discussed in the Market Strategies Section.

● Threat of Substitute: Threat of substitute is medium. Customers being indifferent to

price-performance may opt to go with traditional transportation equipment like
conveyors, forklifts, dollies etc.

● Supplier Bargaining Power: Bargaining Power of Suppliers is low as Amazon has

acquired Kiva robotics and already possess the technology know-hows for developing
robots.

● Competitive Rivalry: Competitive Rivalry is moderate to high as there are multiple

players entering the warehouse automation market as identified in the Competitor
Analysis Section.

Market Strategies

Product Strategy

The team’s initial goal is to develop a technology for Amazon to deliver Amazon Robotic
Services (ARS) in the next 2-5 years. In order to do this, the team has decided to focus on a
technology roadmap for improving and increasing Amazon Robotic Services (ARS) performance
and will be providing Warehouse Robotics as a Services (RaaS) or the Robotics Rental
Business for small E-commerce companies. The team has brainstormed some new technology
features such as Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Access, Predictive Maintenance, Warehouse
on-demand and Wearable computers. Those features will be useful for Amazon to advance their
future robotics warehousing.

18
Amazon’s Robotic Fulfillment Center where they are using robots to assist employees with tasks
like carrying shelves of products from worker to worker across massive warehouse spaces,
reading barcodes on the ground for directions along the way to travel in place of workers.
Amazon has set up their intelligent warehouse based on the Kiva system.

The Kiva System robot is making inventory items come to the warehouse workers and they can
fulfill orders faster. It has a computer cluster to keep track of all robots and racks on the floor,
and it can be used for resource-allocation algorithms efficiently. Moreover, it provides hundreds
of mobile robots to bring inventory to warehouse workers and save them from walking daily
marathons. However, some E-commerce companies are struggling with the problem of order
handling inefficiencies in warehousing. To solve this problem, some E-commerce companies
employ the Kiva robot fulfilment system to enhance order picking efficiency, improve customers
services and reduce operational costs. As far as how to increase the awareness, the team will
be advertising directly to the target market via social media and other outreach advertisements.

Pricing Strategy

Based on our competitor analysis and Amazon’s brand success, we determine that Amazon
RaaS services are a full-service warehouse automation solution, and this service would be
positioned as a premium pricing service. The reason is that not only does Amazon provide the
robotics hardware, it also offers additional AWS services that other robotics services do not
provide. Amazon Robotics Services would be a one-stop warehouse automation solution for
many customers in different industries. Comparing other company’s offerings, Amazon Robotics
Service will offer one price to the customers and this price will cover the annual maintenance
cost and supportive software cost. The price for each robot is estimated to be $50,000 for the
first year and later on being a monthly subscription charge(pay-as-you-go model). Even though
Amazon RaaS will be a complete turnkey solution, Amazon robotics services will provide
employee training to help the staff be familiar with the system for the first three months. After the
training period, the system will be handed off to the warehouse managers and operators. The
supporting personnel from the Amazon side will transition into 24/7 remote support with weekly
or monthly client meetings and back-end equipment monitoring[16].

Demand Generation

Since Amazon has already established its brand identity, it doesn’t need to spend additional
money on increasing brand awareness. However, for the success of Amazon Robotics Services,
it is crucial to reach out to potential customers by correctly identifying and outlining their buyer
personas. By implementing native advertising and sponsored content on the platform, potential
customers will be introduced to Amazon's technology and services. When potential customers
have enough interest and consider implementing ARS technology, they will be provided with
logistics experts and consultants to discuss the consents. Experts will then assess the current
warehouse’s needs and later offer specific recommendations tailored to match the warehouse
schema. To continue and strengthen ongoing partnerships with existing customers, the account
manager, and the customer service teams will make iterations and service adjustments through

19
customer feedback and ensure customer satisfaction. Here we list out different ways for
conducting B2B promotion and marketing campaigns to reach potential costumes in Figure 11.

Figure 11: Marketing Communication

CATEGORY TOOLS RESULTS

Google ads, Industry publication
Online Advertising and websites, Search engine Clicks, Asking for quotes
optimization, Sponsored content

Social Media Advertising Youtube Promotion, Website visit, clicks

Promotion, Website visit, clicks,

Blogging LinkedIn
Asking for quotes

Logistics and engineering Consulting services and Promotion and consultation,

companies engineering services Referral marketing

Registers, clicks, email signups,

Robotics Warehousing
Bouchers, flyers, demo room interactions with potential
Conferences
customers

Customer Relationship Find potential customers and

Customers Outreach
Management System(CRM) collaboration opportunities

Place and Distribution Strategy

Our primary strategy is to use the direct distribution channel to sell RaaS directly to businesses.
Amazon RaaS will mainly focus on e-commerce warehouses in the initial trial period, and in the
future partnering with other companies in other industries of choice. In this case, Amazon would
be directly doing transactions with other businesses for sales. This is a business-to-business
distribution model. Only selected customers would be approached by online customer service
representatives or warehouse consultants to explain the benefits of this service for a web-based
introduction. Using web-based sales channels, the sales and marketing team will use the
existing client relationship through internal databases to discuss the clients’ needs or establish a
new client base via email, SEO(search engine optimization) content, social media [17].

The physical sales channels would include trade shows, conferences, demonstration rooms as
these environments would give the customers a more immersive experience to see how a
warehouse could be transformed. Customers can make more requests and modifications based
on the company’s needs and other opinions from experts. Once the contract is finalized,

20
door-to-door delivery will be scheduled for robots and other machinery delivery in 4 weeks.
Because no new infrastructure will be needed from the customers’ side, this would be a quick
and agile implementation. Amazon RaaS will also allow customers to quickly scale up and down
based on seasonality or other factors.

Technology Roadmap

Based on our research and analysis results, the first layer we came up with is the drivers, which
had two parts: Internal market drivers and External market drivers. These drivers were identified
from market and industry analysis, market segmentation, changes in technology, SWOT
analysis of the business, and customer requirements. We identified varieties of drivers through
brainstorming, market research, and analysis. Then we prioritized them according to the
importance of the business into a list of 20, as seen in Figure 12. The priorities were determined
by peer review and research analysis [20].

The second layer consists of the product and features aligned with the current and future drivers
identified above. This is followed by technologies that enabled Amazon to achieve the
products/service and the strategic direction Amazon needs to take to acquire and develop future
technology to support the development of its future offerings. The QFD technique was applied to
calculate the scores (obtained by the product attributes and market drivers after analyzing their
relationship as well as technology on product attributes). This technique was used to condense
the information and provide a simple visual comparison of priorities across the tables. The
weights assigned to the drivers at the top of the spreadsheet in Figure 13 are based on the
team’s conclusion of the analysis performed on the market drivers and their respective
prioritization. The weights in the Products vs Technology QFD seen in Figure 14 is from the
result of Drivers vs Products QFD [20].

The fourth layer is the resources in place that would help Amazon close the gap between
current and future technology. Finally, we mapped the drivers to products and services,
technology to products and services, and resources to technology. All the information in the
research and analysis steps were gathered, and a technology roadmap was built for current,
present, and future timelines. Integration and alignment between layers were finalized by peer
review and market research [20].

21
 Figure 12: Drivers [21-49]
Label Driver Definition Weight
No need for onsite warehouse servers. Customers can
D1 Data storage utilize the cloud storage to access data at any point of 4
time from any location

DZ Lower margin Quality, safety, cost reduction and customer service 4

of error
Place an order from any device(one click
D3 Accessibility 3
buttons,subscription, etc)

D4 Data Analytics Restocking, data sharing, prediction 4

The patterns and trends observed from the enormous

amount of data are used by several machine learning
Technology
DS Big Data - F algorithms and help in making predictive analytics with 4
data-based learning. Large complex data set from from
different data sources
Better identify, analyze and mitigate the risks inherent
D6 Security ·F 4
in the process
The next step may perhaps be AR, with smart goggles
Augmented
D7 guiding the picker through the route and telling him or 2
reality - F
MARKET her what to pick.
DRIVERS
Wireless
DB Improvements in GPS , RFID, bluetooth, 5G technologies 4
technology -F
Warehouse optimization activities(picking, packing,
D9 Productivity 4
shipping... )
Productivity D10 Efficiency Customers expect shorter delivery time 4
Inventory Decrease inventory excess risk but matching demand
D11 3
management rates

D12 Labor Shortage Retention of labors and challenges due to pandemic 4

Economic
D13 Profit margin Increase profit margin for company 3
D14 Pandemic Safety and health concerns, social distancing 4
Social More ecommerce orders, higher customer expectations
D15 Trends 3
for fast delivery
Waste
D16 Reusable packaging, and reduce paper billing 2
Envi ronment management
al Sustainability/
D17 Solar powered equipment 2
Rechargeable
Collaborations Collaborate with third party robotic suppliers. Partner
D18 and with more retail outlets to support multi channel 2
partnerships fu lfilment
Business
BUSINESS INTERNAL D19 Expand Business u nit to increase revenue streams 2
Expansion
Modular and Think of modular solutions in terms of Lego blocks,
D20 Plug-and-Play which can b e assembled, deconstructed, relocated 3
Solutions - F and rearranged as needed.
---·----·-·

22
 Figure 13: Drivers vs. Products QFD [21-49]
Drivers
Collabor
Lower atlons Wearable Modular and
Data Prescriptive Inventory Susta lnabll lty/ Waste Pandeml Business Labor Augmented
Data storage margin of Accesslbll lty Big Data and Trends Profit margin Wireless Plug-and-Play Blockchaln
Analytics Analytlcs management Rechargeable management C Expansion Shortage Reality
error partners technology Solutlons
hips Score
Rank Weights 4 4 2 4 4 2 4 2 2 2 4 2 4 2 2 2 4 4 2

•
-------,
Amazon Inve ntory
Management Softwares
4 4 2 4 2 1 4 4 2 1 1 1 4 2
1 4 2 2 140
Cloud computing 4 2 2 4 4 1 4 2 2 2 4 1 1 4 4 4 1 2 2 148
.........
------, Tech vest 2 4 4 2 2 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 1 2 2 112
Robots 4 4 4 1 2 4 4 4 2 4 4 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 182

:I:::: Logistics
Amazon w arehouse
4 4 1 2 4 1 1 4 1 2 2 2 4 2 4 1 1 1 1 128
4 4 4 2 4 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1
Slmulator 4 4 4 4 146
f---
1 RAAS 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 4 1 4 1 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 188
~ Communication 1 4 1 2 2 4 1 1 1 1 4 4 1 4 4 1 1 1 1 110
f---
Wearable sensor and
11 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2
smart glasses 2 4 2 2 92
10
f---
Warehouse Drones 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 2 1 2 2 4 96

......,-
12

f---
Optlcal Recognition
Smart Storage
1
4
1
4
1
2
1
4 4
1 2
1
2
4
2
4
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
4
4
1
2
1
2
4
2
4
88
144
Sustainable packaging
13 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 4 2 4 1 2 2
materia l (future) 1 1 1 1 84

Figure 14: Products vs. Technology QFD [21-49]

Products and Services

Amazon Amazon
Wearable sensor Optical Sustainable
Invent ory Cloud Warehous Warehouse
Techvest Robots Logistics RAAS Communicatior and Smart Recognit io Smart Storage packaging Score
Management computing e Drones
glasses n material
Softwares Simulator
(future)
Rank Weights 2 4 2 4 2 4 4 2 1 1 1 2 1
2 Big Data 4 4 2 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 2 1 94
>----
1-Click, Wireless
technology, and
4 4 2 4 4 2 4 1 1 1 2 2 1
machine-to-machine
3 communication 87

~ >, Sensors.Laser Sensors 2 4 2 2 4 4 4 2 1 2 1 2 1 85

7
>----
"'
0
0
Blockchain 4 2 2 4 4 1 2 1 2 2 2 4 2 74
Warehouse Automation 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4
~ 2 2 2 4 2 56
C
.c
~ "
~
Data Networking 1 2 1 4 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 4 52
1 Deep Machine Learning 4 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 2 1 96
>----
7 Image Segmentation 2 2 4 4 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 2 2 74
30 printing
~ 4 4 2 1 2 4 4 2 1 1 1 2 1 80
8 Nano Technology 1 1 4 4 1 2 4 4 2 2 2 1 1 73
>----
5 Pa ckaging Technology 4 4 1 4 2 1 4 4 2 2 2 1 2 84

23
 Figure 15: Technology Gap Analysis[21-49]
Current level Where we want to be Gap
Ablility to learn, adapt, and
Deep machine learning, Image segmentation,3-D printing.Virtual reality provide resu lts quickly and
IRobotics Big Data, Arificial Intelligence, Predictive Analysis, Machine Learning (VR),optimize operation accurately to new changes
Security and Privacy issues
Ioperation 1-Click, Wireless technology, and machine-to-machine commun ication Low powered, wide-area network connections, 5G yet to be solved
Sensor utilizations allow
real-time feedback to the
Nano technology connect to sensors; Able to work autonomously in the control system , inferring
same manner; Predictive maintenance for machines and devices will desired the result sooner;
Electronics Sensors, Laser sensor, lo T sensors become increasingly more efficient, easier, cheaper, and improve uptime more complex detections
High energy comsumption
IBlockchain Cryptography, Data authentication, Data validation Smart con tracts, identity management, supply chain uses and scaling issues
Goods-to-Person (GTP),Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Safety, payload capacity
(AS/RS),AGVs,AMRs,Voice Picking and Tasking, Automated Sortation restrictions and political
IWarehouse automation Systems, Pick-t o-Light and Put-to-Light Systems Warehouse Drones , Cobotics acceptance
Coverage holes/ gaps, keep
IInformation technology Data retrieval, Transmission and networking Seemless connection, no delays or interference signal strength high
Package is excessive and
IPackaging Technology Traditional packaging material(carboard box, recylcab le paper) Su stainable packaging material wasteful.

24
 Figure 16: Technology Roadmap
Current 2023 2026
Data storage, Lower
Technology
~
>
~ Productivity
.; Economic
DRIVERS i Pand
Social

Environmental

.,:::: -;;;

-cc~ .E.,
C: E

Ooud

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

n>aterial
= l-)-=a=t a,~A
~.:,:,-:_:,:,:,:,-:_:,:,:,:,:,:,:,:,-:,.:,:,:,:,:_--•e"1g = .;"fic:a"'a""'
lntelligence, Predictive Anal~is, Machine Learning
Deep Machine Le aming
Robotics Image segmentation
3-0 printing
Operation 1-Click, Wireless technology, and machine-to-machine communication
Sensors / Laser sensor
Electronics Nano Teclinology
TECHNOLOGY
Blockchain Cryptography, Data authentication,Data validation

Warehouse Goods-to-Person {GTP),Aut omated Storage and Retrieva l Systems (AS/RS),AGVs,AMRs, Voice Picking and Tasking, Automated
Automation Sortation Systems, Pick-to-Light and Put-to-Light Systems
IT Data retrieval, transmission and networtdng
Packaging , ustainable packaging
Technology
Amazon Business
R&D
Material Management
RESOURCES Human Capital
loT
Amazon Robotics
Patemships

25
Appendix
Market Opportunity - TAM,SAM,SOM

Figure 17: Global Warehouse Automation Market size

Warehouse Automation Market Size 2020 - 2026

$40B

$30B

$20B

$ 10B

$OB
2020 2023 2026

Figure 18: Total Availability Market(TAM)

Clolio! _ ohO!!H A- l i e M••k I

12442 Million IASD In - . iuol

~I~
Robots

--~.
U--offmHt•

26
 Figure 19: Service Availability Market(SAM)

I ~

$CARARQbo

Figure 20: Service obtainable Market(SOM)

Rt Cfll

--­
E-C-offifiii.U

27
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