A look inside Amazon’s new fulfillment center in Elkhart County
ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) – Amazon will finish what it started in Elkhart County.
That was the word from the online marketplace giant today.
Amazon received its occupancy permit for its new fulfillment center off the Indiana Toll Road in March of 2023, yet the entrance remained barricaded, and the parking lot was essentially empty.
Amazon today opened its doors and gave tours to community and elected leaders, along with members of the media.
When completed, the Elkhart County Robotics Fulfillment Center with have more robotics than any other Amazon fulfillment facility in the company’s entire network. Yet right now, it has none.
“So, later this month, that’s when our material handling equipment, or MHE, will be going into the building,” said Amazon’s Kyle Degiulio. “That is the 10 miles of conveyance that will be going through the building, and it’s a time-consuming process.”
Crews will restart the project by installing 10 miles of conveyor belts in the now empty building. Those on today’s tour were told to use their imagination, while media outlets were provided pictures of the type of technology that’ll make the fulfillment center tick — from robotic arms to free moving Roomba-like robots.
Rest assured, in a building that is five stories tall with 800,000 square feet of space, there is still room for a human touch.
“There will be a thousand full time employees at this location,” Degiulio said. “Full time at Amazon right now, average wage is $20.50 an hour for those 1,000 jobs, and those jobs are inclusive of benefits starting on day one, which would include health, dental, 401K.”
The projected completion date has been set for the fall of 2025. Once a more specific launch date is known, Amazon typically does its hiring in the two months leading up to a launch.
Today also provided an opportunity to solve a mystery. When a developer first took this project before Elkhart County government by a secret code name, “Project Winnie.” Degiulio said the name was a takeoff on RV maker Winnebago.
Amazon plans to build another new facility in Elkhart by the fall of 2025.
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