[Lunarsm]

Despite popular belief, most Amazon facilities do NOT use kiva robots. The fulfillment center would have to be completely rebuilt on the inside to accommodate them. Heck, even some new facilities still don't use them. I work over at Amazon in one of their largest fulfillment centers in the USA. To answer your question regarding where a tote is sent in the facility is simple. During each shift, there are any number of queues open (usually about 5). When receiving an item from DA, we will scan an item into a tote and the computer determines, based on the size of the items, where in the facility it needs to go (library, or library deep). Aside from a few exceptions, most items are randomly stowed. The stowers all have a rate, and because of that, will find whatever space fits their needs. Pallet mass (items with a lot of the same quantity to fill a pallet) is checked regularly and pulled from the regular shelves and sent to a sorting area (at least that's what they started doing at my FC) where it can be stowed somewhere in "pallet land." Try not to think too much into where items are stowed, it is pretty much a clusterf*ck across the FC.

[minthd]

How does the work for stowers is arranged ? do the computer give them specific sets of items to stow ? or is arranged according to the order the goods arrive ?

And what is this pallet land ? what's the benefit?

[Lunarsm]

Work is arranged by what truck is being processed, we attempt to follow FIFO as much as possible. Queues are determined, to the best of my knowledge, by which area of the FC has the most space (but they probably do it arbitrarily, I'm not in charge of any of that, so I don't really know their method). When a truck is being received, all cartons will be placed inside totes (or "juice carts") and sent up to the queues (there's usually only a couple queues that are "dropping" totes). Stowers are advised to take the totes, which are placed on u-boats, by using the FIFO method. Stowers are not given specific sets of items to stow; they only stow what's given to them.

Pallet land is the part of the FC for products we carry in large quantities (i.e. enough to fill a pallet, quarter pallet, or half pallet). Pallet land is just a nickname we give part of the pallet area. We also have a 3-story rack area full of pallets (at my FC). Some items we have on pallets include some Starbucks, Sonicare, and Darth Vader costumes (omg we have so many).