Lunarsm

I like it. I have half the week where I can goof off and do whatever, and then 4 days of graveyard shifts. It works out quite nicely, especially when paired with the benefits offered. To each their own.

We only have a few queues to stow into per shift where all the product comes in, so I doubt the computer determines THAT much of it, but I could be wrong.

At my FC, pickers are moving way too quickly and navigating around all kinds of obstacles for a Segway to be practical. I believe one of the primary advantages to the Kiva method is density. Aisles can be stored closer together.

It is indeed quite random. Each stower has a rate, and in order for us to make that rate, we can stow in almost any bin. Some other constraints include using the smallest bin possible for each item and not stowing heavy items up high (the scanner restricts stowing "heavy" items up top).

Work is arranged by what truck is being processed, we attempt to follow FIFO as much as possible. Queues are determined, to the best of my knowledge, by which area of the FC has the most space (but they probably do it arbitrarily, I'm not in charge of any of that, so I don't really know their method). When a truck is being received, all cartons will be placed inside totes (or "juice carts") and sent up to the queues (there's usually only a couple queues that are "dropping" totes). Stowers are advised to take the totes, which are placed on u-boats, by using the FIFO method. Stowers are not given specific sets of items to stow; they only stow what's given to them.

Pallet land is the part of the FC for products we carry in large quantities (i.e. enough to fill a pallet, quarter pallet, or half pallet). Pallet land is just a nickname we give part of the pallet area. We also have a 3-story rack area full of pallets (at my FC). Some items we have on pallets include some Starbucks, Sonicare, and Darth Vader costumes (omg we have so many).

Despite popular belief, most Amazon facilities do NOT use kiva robots. The fulfillment center would have to be completely rebuilt on the inside to accommodate them. Heck, even some new facilities still don't use them. I work over at Amazon in one of their largest fulfillment centers in the USA. To answer your question regarding where a tote is sent in the facility is simple. During each shift, there are any number of queues open (usually about 5). When receiving an item from DA, we will scan an item into a tote and the computer determines, based on the size of the items, where in the facility it needs to go (library, or library deep). Aside from a few exceptions, most items are randomly stowed. The stowers all have a rate, and because of that, will find whatever space fits their needs. Pallet mass (items with a lot of the same quantity to fill a pallet) is checked regularly and pulled from the regular shelves and sent to a sorting area (at least that's what they started doing at my FC) where it can be stowed somewhere in "pallet land." Try not to think too much into where items are stowed, it is pretty much a clusterf*ck across the FC.