For
the
grand
opening,
Amazon
Romulus
General
Manager
Shawn
Westlund
led a
behind-the-scenes
tour for
attendees
including
U.S.
Sen.
Debbie
Stabenow,
U.S.
Rep.
Debbie
Dingell,
U.S.
Rep.
Rashida
Tlaib,
Michigan
Rep.
Alex
Garza
and
Romulus
Mayor
LeRoy
Burcroff.
Westlund
explained
how
Romulus
associates
play an
integral
role in
picking,
packing
and
shipping
customer
orders,
helping
to speed
up
delivery
for
Amazon
customers
in
Michigan.
(Photo by HB Meeks/Tell Us
Detroit)
Amazon
holds
Grand
Opening
of its
first
Robotics
Fulfillment
Center
in Wayne
County
ROMULUS
-
Earlier
today,
Amazon
opened
the
doors to
the
public
for the
first
time to
its
robotics
fulfillment
center
on
Ecorse
Road in
Romulus,
Michigan.
The over
850,000
square-foot
fulfillment
center
had
their
first
soft
opening
for
operations
in July
2018
with
more
than
1,500
full-time,
full-benefit
associates
who
pick,
pack and
ship
smaller
customer
items
such as
books,
electronics,
and
toys.
The
Romulus
site is
Amazon’s
first in
the
Detroit
region
to house
Amazon
Robotics
technology
and the
fourth
fulfillment
center
in the
region
overall.
It is
the
second
facility
in
Romulus
alongside
an
Amazon
delivery
station
that
celebrated
its
grand
opening
this
past
May.
For
the
grand
opening,
Amazon
Romulus
General
Manager
Shawn
Westlund
led a
behind-the-scenes
tour for
attendees
including
U.S.
Sen.
Debbie
Stabenow,
U.S.
Rep.
Debbie
Dingell,
U.S.
Rep.
Rashida
Tlaib,
Michigan
Rep.
Alex
Garza
and
Romulus
Mayor
LeRoy
Burcroff.
Westlund
explained
how
Romulus
associates
play an
integral
role in
picking,
packing
and
shipping
customer
orders,
helping
to speed
up
delivery
for
Amazon
customers
in
Michigan.
During
the
tour,
attendees
were
given a
look at
Amazon
Robotics
technology
including
robot
drive
units
that
bring
goods
straight
to
associates
assembling
orders.
Each of
the
robot
drive
units
weighs
320
pounds,
can lift
as much
as 750
pounds
and
drives
five
feet per
second.
The tour
also
included
a look
at an
aptly-named
SLAM
machine
that
sticks
shipping
labels
to
packages
with a
quick
burst of
air.
Attendees
saw
items
moving
along
conveyor
belts
through
the
fulfillment
center
which
houses
over 10
miles of
belts in
total.
Amazon
also
invited
leaders
from
local
Michigan
nonprofit
Inforum
to tour
and
celebrate
its
grand
opening.
Amazon
surprised
Inforum
President
and CEO
Terry
Barclay
with a
$10,000
donation
to
support
the
organization’s
inSTEM
program
which
works to
close
the
gender
gap for
young
women in
STEM
careers.
“It
was such
a
heartwarming
surprise
to hear
about
this
donation
from
Amazon,”
said
Barclay.
“We have
been
able to
serve
over
4,500
girls
and
expose
them to
STEM
careers.
This
will
allow us
to grow
in scale
what we
do, to
reach
more
girls
and to
have
more of
an
impact
to lead
them
toward
wonderful
STEM
careers
right
here in
the
community.”
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