I spent a day at Amazon in Darlington - here's what it was like

The D&S headed down to the Darlington depot to have a look round and see how it all works and to get a taste of working alongside Artificial Intelligence.

From recording what items come into the building, to picking and packing, this well-oiled machine is a none-stop process.

I arrived at the building at 9am and first noticed the security measures in place with so much stock being held at the site.

Amazon, Darlington. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

After a quick chat with Ankur Singhal, senior operations manager, the tour of the building began.

Considering the building can fit 5.5 football pitches inside, it’s a vast and overwhelming site.

First, I was taken to an area where all the items that enter the building must be recorded. Any perishable goods such as food need to have the expiry dates checked and logged.

Next, I got to see the robots in action, and they did remind me slightly of cordless vacuum cleaners. There are over 2000 robots at the Darlington site.

Ankur Singhal, senior operations manager at Amazon in Darlington. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Only a select few staff members with special training are allowed to enter the space where the robots work.

The next department was ‘stow’. This location is where employees receive products and begin the process of stowing the items onto the mobile shelves also known as pods

Surprisingly, all items are stored randomly. There are three technologies in play here. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision.

Employees store inventory on to these mobile shelves and technology enables us to know exactly what Amazon has available for customers and where it is in the building.

The reception area at Amazon. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

I then got to see how ‘pickers’ work. This involves a screen at each employee’s station displaying an image of an item and a light appears on a compartment of a shelf-like unit.

The ‘picker’ then finds the items, scans it, and it is placed in a crate. This means that, essentially, the item is physically and virtually registered.

I got to have a go at ‘picking’ items which was a novelty and quite fun, although I imagine an eight-hour shift is hard work.

The Echo's Aja Dodd tries 'packing' at Amazon, Darlington. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

I was then taken to see where the ‘packers’ work, which involves a lot of, well, packing.

Items move along a conveyor belt in a crate and each ‘packer’ scans an item one-by-one and on a screen, they are told which size packaging to use. They then apply a label with a bar code, scan it again and place it back on the conveyor belt.

Parcels at Amazon, Darlington. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

I also got to try this and packaged up several items. Employees have to work fast and the work is repetitive.

Echo reporter Aja Dodd having a go at 'packing' items. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

The next section surprised me as it was called S.L.A.M. which stands for secure, label, apply, manifest. The technology here scans the box and immediately knows to print the correct shipping label on the box

Mr Singhal said: “We have people working alongside machines. A lot of people think it’s probably mainly just machines now, but we definitely need humans as well.

“People from all different backgrounds with different situations work here so there’s something a role for everyone.

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

“There’s also a lot of opportunities to progress and train, and we also have apprenticeships as well.”

Mr Singhal went on to explain the learning and development opportunities and how many employees take advantage of this and gain a qualification such as HGV Driving. 95 per cent of the cost is covered by the company, and once the employees’ training is complete, they can then choose to either stay with Amazon, or move on to something new.

The fulfilment centre was the centre of Amazon’s operation to dispatch test kits on behalf of the UK Government and brought forward it’s launch. Over 1.2M Covid 19 test kits were shipped for the UK government from the site.

Overall, it was fascinating to see how it all works. Most of us order something online and then it magically turns up on our doorstep, without giving the process of how it works a second thought, but after observing employees I now know that a lot of hard work goes into the process and it’s truly the people, rather than machines, who make it all possible.

Aja Dodd tries being a 'packer' at Amazon. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)