Ageing Japan is becoming a test bed for whether logistics companies can overcome labour shortages and maintain faster delivery times, as the bulk of the sector lags behind Amazon in embracing robots.
At its fulfilment centre in Chiba near Tokyo, where robots outnumber the 2,000 employees and storage capacity is 40 per cent higher than a regular warehouse, Amazon showcased a new paper wrapping machine that automatically adjusts to the item’s size and a dizzyingly complex sorting system that coordinates multiple items for packing into a single box or bag.
But humans take over once a package is out on the road. With almost 30 per cent of Japanese citizens over 65, the pool of truck drivers is expected to shrink by a third to 480,000 by 2030, according to Nomura Research Institute.