This article really overhypes the Kiva robots. I work in the warehouse automation industry for a fortune-500 retailer with several large e-commerce brands. Robotic goods-to-person is only one of many applications of robotics and automation in warehouses. It is also really only useful for certain types of long-tail operations - many SKUs, low volume per SKU. It also still very labor intensive because someone still has to pack all of those orders.
I think the Kiva robots are an important part of Amazon's fulfillment efficiency but I don't see a huge market for that technology across the warehousing industry because there are a lot of other problems that it doesn't solve at all or doesn't handle very well.
From my point of view the automated storage and retrieval and shuttle systems are much more interesting and more widely applicable. They are also a much more efficient use of vertical space.
I think the Kiva robots are an important part of Amazon's fulfillment efficiency but I don't see a huge market for that technology across the warehousing industry because there are a lot of other problems that it doesn't solve at all or doesn't handle very well.
From my point of view the automated storage and retrieval and shuttle systems are much more interesting and more widely applicable. They are also a much more efficient use of vertical space.