Amazon Opens New Fulfillment Center in Ruskin Florida - Kansas and California to Follow

Amazon calls the Ruskin facility a fulfillment center that is responsible for picking, packing and shipping items for most orders to Florida.

The warehouse is the size of 28 football fields, according to Amazon officials.

It uses a workforce of hundreds of robots which retrieve items and deliver them to human packers.

Then the items are sent on miles of conveyor belts where they’re sorted and delivered right into the back of delivery trucks.

The entire process can be as quick as a few minutes on certain items.

“Minutes from the click it could happen, based on what kind of delivery option you choose,” said Chris Monnot, general manager of the Ruskin fulfillment center.

Florida Governor Rick Scott praised Amazon for hiring 2,500 workers at the Ruskin location. It has another fulfillment center in Lakeland and other facilities across the state, employing 4,000 employees total.

“What’s exciting today is 2,500 jobs right here at Amazon. I look forward to them adding more jobs and I’m excited about the 4,000 they already have in the great state of Florida,” said Scott.

Related: Amazon is Hiring in Ruskin

In addition to the Ruskin facility, and only a few days after announcing another new fulfillment center in Edgerton, Kansas, Amazon.com unveiled plans for another new center that will serve customers further west.

Amazon plans to open a seventh California fulfillment center in San Bernardino, where the company launched its first Golden State fulfillment center in the state in 2012.

The retailer currently employs more than 12,000 full-time hourly associates at its six existing California locations and says it will hire more than 1,000 full-time employees in the new San Bernardino facility.

Employees at the 1.1 million-square-foot San Bernardino fulfillment center will pick, pack, and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics and toys.

“San Bernardino has proven to be an important part of Amazon’s growth in California, and we are proud to continue creating jobs and helping support the economy here in the Inland Empire,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s VP of North American operations.

“Over the past three and a half years, we have built a network of top-notch fulfillment centers across the state.”

Outside of San Bernardino, Amazon’s other California fulfillment centers are located in Tracy, Patterson, Moreno Valley, Redlands and Rialto. Amazon reportedly operates nearly 100 fulfillment centers across the U.S.

“We are excited Amazon continues to view San Bernardino as a great place to do business and we’re proud to be part of Amazon’s history and future,” said Mayor R. Carey Davis of San Bernardino.

“The company continues hosting a robust public tours program, donating needed items and volunteer hours to local charities, and supporting local businesses on a regular basis.”

Related: Amazon’s Big Bet on Kiva Systems Needs a Big Payoff

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