Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) said Wednesday it will build a $40 million robotics research and manufacturing facility in Westborough, Massachusetts, about 30 miles southwest of Boston. The 350,000-square-foot complex, scheduled to open in 2021, will be Amazon’s second robotics development and manufacturing center in the Commonwealth.
The Westborough location will join Amazon’s existing robotics site in North Reading, the company said in a statement. The two facilities combined are the hub of the company’s robotics development effort.
Industrial robots will gain in relevance as businesses automate their warehouse and distribution center operations to improve productivity and keep a tight rein on labor costs, which have been rising steadily for the past seven years after being depressed for many years before that.
The new location will include corporate offices, research and development labs, and manufacturing space, Amazon said. It will employ about 200 advanced information technology workers, according to the company.
“This will be a world-class facility where our teams can design, build, program and ship our robots all under the same roof,” Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon’s robotics unit, said in the statement.
