Amazon to start tracking hand movements of employees. If workers slack off, wristband will know.

a reply to: jacobe001

No, what Im doing is explaining how a bin fulfillment shipping system works, to people who havent run one. Its quite clear in the article what the bracelets are for.

Human error is ver costly, but I guess its easier to accuse companies of something theyre not doing for sensationalisms sake.

a reply to: jacobe001

I never understood how some can complain about the power of government but not the power of corporations.

Miss Direction. Corporations are the overlords pointing our focus on a tool of oppression, government, rather than the hand that wields it, corporations.

a reply to: Cabin

I've been in logistics for 18 years. This is not what you think it is.

All it is, is a poka-yoke being put into place to ensure the workers are picking the right products from the bins.

These types of systems are common place in pick/pack facilities. Mistakes and miss shipments cost money. LOTS of money. Most of these are because of human error. These types of systems cost a fraction of the overall cost of the errors.

Some places have bins that will light up red or green if you put your hand in the wrong or correct bin. Pick/pack operations can become very monotonous and worker fatigue causes mistakes. This is just another way to combat that.

originally posted by: GBP/JPY
If they were not informed of this when hired...it won't stick.......

How so? Employers can change working conditions and employees are free to leave if they don't like them.

a reply to: SgtHamsandwich

well, staffing your warehouse with temporary employees year round and offering no incentive also causes a problem in production

when your employees have no incentive to perform then they don't

I've never actually worked there but I know people who have and they typically fill these positions with temporary staff

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: SgtHamsandwich

well, staffing your warehouse with temporary employees year round and offering no incentive also causes a problem in production

when your employees have no incentive to perform then they don't

I've never actually worked there but I know people who have and they typically fill these positions with temporary staff

That's the nature of pick/pack. It can be very demanding at times with little personal benefit. The turnover rate is very high in these operations. It's more beneficial to the company to higher temps at peak times of year than to try and maintain full time employees throughout the year. You obviously have your core group of full time employees that manage inventory and incoming product, but outgoing is a roller coaster.

I've worked pick/pack and I HATED it. Nobody wants to make a career out of it. It's the reality of the situation. It's a whole different world then a manufacturing environment.

I went to a jobs fair last week and the first questions on the paper were are you a convicted felon in the last 10 years do you have dependable transportation and have you had any misdemeanors in the last 5 years.

A Lot of my girlfriend / wife drives me wherever I need to go.

This was in the nuke industry starting at $50 an hour 60 hours a week.

A friend got picked up as a scheduler for $75 and hour 60 hours a week.

a reply to: SgtHamsandwich

Maybe you are right

Shigeo Shingo recognized three types of poka-yoke for detecting and preventing errors in a mass production system:
1.The contact method identifies product defects by testing the product's shape, size, color, or other physical attributes.
2.The fixed-value (or constant number) method alerts the operator if a certain number of movements are not made.
3.The motion-step (or sequence) method determines whether the prescribed steps of the process have been followed.

Either the operator is alerted when a mistake is about to be made, or the poka-yoke device actually prevents the mistake from being made. In Shingo's lexicon, the former implementation would be called a warning poka-yoke, while the latter would be referred to as a control poka-yoke.[3]

Shingo argued that errors are inevitable in any manufacturing process, but that if appropriate poka-yokes are implemented, then mistakes can be caught quickly and prevented from resulting in defects. By eliminating defects at the source, the cost of mistakes within a company is reduced.

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: angeldoll

Oh I know I'm right on this...lol

Trust me, they have more nefarious and archaic ways of tracking production without imploying devices like this.

originally posted by: SgtHamsandwich
a reply to: angeldoll

Oh I know I'm right on this...lol

Trust me, they have more nefarious and archaic ways of tracking production without imploying devices like this.

I do believe you.

a reply to: Cabin

Nice...it's like a slave shock collar....only around wrists and not neck....

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: Cabin

Nice...it's like a slave shock collar....only around wrists and not neck....

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: Cabin

Nice...it's like a slave shock collar....only around wrists and not neck....

Hardly slaves, always a choice to work at a particular business or not.
Slaves don't have that choice.

They need to put some shockers in those for idle hands

one more reason not to buy from this stupid company.

a reply to: anticitizen


And whats that reason that your so jealous of them for.

originally posted by: visitedbythem
They need to put some shockers in those for idle hands

And dock their pay! Also, they should be sent to reeducation camps for continual failure.

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: Cabin

Nice...it's like a slave shock collar....only around wrists and not neck....

Hardly slaves, always a choice to work at a particular business or not.
Slaves don't have that choice.

A lot of entry level workers will see it as a good job(because the pay is decent), and then this will eventually become the new norm for this industry.

What a soul crushing job though...

Sounds like a great way to get robotic like performance out of human workers, at least until they can be replaced with actual robots.

Fascinating, and somewhat alarming sign of the changing world we "live" in.

originally posted by: blueman12

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: Cabin

Nice...it's like a slave shock collar....only around wrists and not neck....

Hardly slaves, always a choice to work at a particular business or not.
Slaves don't have that choice.

A lot of entry level workers will see it as a good job(because the pay is decent), and then this will eventually become the new norm for this industry.

What a soul crushing job though...

I agree, but it is always a choice to work for any business.
I've been self employed over a decade, but if I needed to I'd probably do a few weeks with Amazon's regime, money is money, and if it causes me no pain to earn it then I'll put up with all sorts if it is the fastest quick fix option.
Keyword here though is choice, I always choose, same as everyone who chooses to work at Amazon. Don't like it, don't choose to work there.