5 Interesting Facts About Amazon's New Rhode Island Fulfillment Center

Amazon’s new Rhode Island factory is finally set to open in Johnston after a long wait.

The Providence Journal recently toured the new building, which is expected to open before the holiday season, and saw dozens of robots, miles of conveyor belts and 3.8 million square feet of space that, when fully staffed, will house more employees than the annual population of Block Island.

Here are five things to know about Amazon’s new fulfillment center:

1. When will it be open and operational?

No specific date has been announced for the opening of Amazon’s Rhode Island fulfillment center, but it will be up and running in time for the peak holiday season. Once it’s up and running, people will be working there around the clock.

2. Is the Amazon factory in Rhode Island hiring? How much can people make working there?

Hiring for management positions at Amazon’s Johnston fulfillment center has already begun, but the vast majority of the 1,500 people expected to work there will be hired 30 to 60 days before the fulfillment center opens to allow time for training.

Most positions will be full-time. The minimum wage for Amazon employees is $17 per hour, while the average wage is $20.50 per hour. That works out to about $35,360 to $42,640. Benefits include full health care coverage, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement, and a retirement account matching contribution.

3. What will the Amazon Rhode Island fulfillment center do?

The new Johnston warehouse will serve the entire Northeast and is the first stop for incoming goods.

The facility will handle small goods or items that might be transported by air. Products will be selected and sorted, then sent either to shippers like USPS or UPS, or to another Amazon location, such as its “last mile” site in Providence.

4. What is the new building near the distribution center?

Encompass Health, a publicly traded company based in Alabama, is building a rehabilitation hospital at 2109 Hartford Ave., right next to the Amazon Center. The projected opening date is this summer, according to Encompass Health’s website.

5. What’s up with the robots?

Amazon’s new fulfillment center in Johnston relies heavily on dozens of Roomba-like robots that move carts of products to and from employee stations. Most of the open spaces on each floor are fenced off, and the robots are locked inside so they can move around without endangering employees.

When a technician has to enter the enclosure where the robots quickly push vertical carts filled with products, he will wear a special vest that should give him a buffer zone to avoid being hit.

The robots, called Hercules, are one of several models of robots that Amazon uses in its fulfillment centers across the country to perform heavy-duty tasks. And they are seriously heavy—according to this article , Hercules can lift 1,250 pounds and carry that weight across millions of square feet in fulfillment centers. Check out this link for a video of the robots in action.