There are more than 4700 Kivas at the Madison facility. They glide along the floor in the large storage rooms, until they find the correct shelf of items. A piston then rises to attach to the shelf, and the robot brings it to the right employee for items to be picked off of the shelf.
Mims said automation in the facility allows it to work at a much higher volume than plants without robots. She said the company does not view the Kivas as threats to people’s jobs because they require human workers to operate properly and to correct for any errors. For example, there is a team of workers that primarily deal with items that fall on the ground while shelves are being moved by Kivas, Senior Operations Manager Amani Floyd said.
