The rise of robots could lead to an unexpected consequence, according to a new RBC Capital Markets report.

The consumer edition of RBC’s “Imagine 2025” report, released Monday, estimates that $US2 trillion in annual US wages could be affected by automation. The report delves into many consequences of the rise of automation and artificial intelligence, including robots taking over a vast number of jobs from everyone from warehouse workers to waiters.

The overarching investment in technology and space has reflected on its earnings, which show that the company is not as profitable as its rival Alibaba. But this does not look to be a cause of worry as the company is strengthening its logistics reach, which is its primary bedrock. “Everything is about scale. When you invest in technology, you don’t worry about spending money. You worry whether you can get to scale. When scale comes, profit will come,” said Chen Zhang, CTO of JD.com mirroring the principles by which Jeff Bezos runs Amazon.

Multi-story warehouses are already common in Asia, but the concept is now taking off in supply-constrained American cities. Four multilevel projects are currently under construction or will soon break ground in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City, and many more planned projects will be announced in the coming months, according to Rob Kossar, vice chairman and head of the Northeast industrial region at real estate services firm JLL.

Two Kardashians just Tweeted and Instagrammed a photo of your product. A tidal wave of online orders spiked your system. Is your warehouse ready? Is it ready to deliver same-day?

German logistics giant still has small share of U.S. package distribution, but hopes new centers will change that.

DHL is looking to add more warehouse automation in a push to expand its U.S. e-commerce logistics business, and deal with a tight job market.

The Bonn-based firm says its $20 million investment in a new distribution center in New Jersey will serve as a test bed for future roll-outs across the U.S. It’s just one of several moves the logistics giant is looking at as e-commerce continues its sharp growth.

In the flat plains of Melbourne’s western industrial heartland sits the southern hemisphere’s largest fridge and freezer.

The two box-like, highly insulated buildings owned and operated by European cold storage specialist NewCold can hold up to 100,000 pallets each, stacked on ceiling height racks inside the fully automated, dimly lit interiors.

At 35-metres tall and more than 130-metres in length, they are equivalent in size to an eight-storey office building.

In business media, especially when it comes to technology startups, writers like to throw around the adjective ‘disruptive’, and in most circumstances the descriptor is inappropriate. Most companies—even most tech companies—construct their value propositions around their industry as it is, and simply want to outperform their competitors by operating incrementally better. Few companies actually render whole industries’ business models obsolete, but Uber is one of them.

Hyundai Kia’s logistics division, Hyundai Glovis, has automated the packaging of semi-knockdown components at its logistics centres in Asan and Ulsan, South Korea. The move is the first step in a wider company initiative to increase productivity through the introduction of smart logistics.

Most robots used in factories today are powerful but blind. They are programmed to do specific tasks repeatedly with high precision and speed, but until now have not been able to adapt to changes in the environment or handling variables. Robot arms often lack the ability to grasp an object if it is moved a few inches, not to mention picking or sorting millions of different products in a warehouse.

“What we’re seeing in the small box portfolio is demand from all kinds of users,” Pharris said. “It could be small companies that can’t justify 400,000 square feet, so they’re putting up smaller DCs in several locations, manufacturers that now drop ship for their retail customers or larger companies that want 50,000 square feet in ten locations around the country to get closer to their customers in urban areas. With two day or less delivery times, they’re forced to go to a more complex network strategy.”

The high level of automation makes it possible to increase the efficiency of work processes in the plant’s small parts logistics. One example of this is the use of robots which put small parts into storage and transport them directly from the warehouse to the assembly line. Skoda Auto has been operating a similar small parts warehouse in Kvasiny for around one year.