Wilmington's new Amazon site is officially open for business. The facility is still scaling up, but it already employs more than 1,000 full-time employees -- and a fleet of robot workers.
The facility is what Amazon calls a "Generation 12.1" robotics fulfillment center. It’s one of only four like it in the United States, making it one of Amazon's most advanced facility in the country.
The facility, located in Pender Commerce Park on U.S. 421, will remain open 24/7 as it processes millions of units for eventual delivery. Alongside instantly becoming one of the largest employers in the area, it is also supposed to decrease shipping times for Wilmington-area residents.
Amazon opens
Local leaders gathered at the facility on Monday, Oct. 5 to celebrate Amazon's
new presence in the Wilmington area with a ribbon cutting. Amazon opened two new facilities -- the robotics fulfillment center and a delivery center -- in the Pender Commerce Park, an industrial park on U.S. 421 that straddles the New Hanover-Pender county line.
According to Josh Lingenfelser, the site lead at the robotics fulfillment center, the company opened the Wilmington-area sites in August, but it's been a slow ramp up toward operating at full strength. The fulfillment center has a maximum capacity of 20 million to 24 million individual delivery units, Lingenfelser said.
While the facility will emphasize the delivery needs of the Wilmington and Myrtle Beach areas, it will service places as far as Mississippi and Louisiana.
Why build in Wilmington? Lingenfelser said the market need was high in the area because of the distance from other Amazon facilities. He also highlighted that automated facilities work well for smaller towns.
Robots and workers
The facility itself is massive, coming in at around 3.5 million square feet across 4 1/2 floors. Walking inside, each floor is something of a maze of conveyor belts and processing areas.
As the name suggests, robotics are front and center. Amazon uses robots to scan, sort and transport packages. The Wilmington facility is one of Amazon's most advanced robotics fulfillment centers in the country, with 10 times the automated equipment as previous generations of the facility, Lingenfelser said.
However, it isn't just robots getting the job done. Amazon currently has over 1,100 full-time employees at the Pender Commerce Park and a fluctuating number of part-time employees. During the holiday season, Amazon expects to add hundreds more seasonal workers.
Elected officials and community leaders attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate Amazon's arrival in the region
"This is a great day for Pender County, New Hanover County and the residents who will find new opportunities here," said Randy Burton, chair of the Pender County Board of Commissioners.
LeAnn Pierce, chair of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, celebrated the cross-county collaboration for bringing new jobs to the area.
Charlie Kingree is the Pender County and trending topics reporter for the StarNews. He can be reached at ckingree@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: One of Amazon’s most advanced U.S. facilities opens near Wilmington
