Marina Bay Sands has become the first in Singapore’s hospitality industry to deploy a fleet of 12 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for back-of-house deliveries for its hotel and convention centre operations.
Marking a significant step in operational automation, AMRs are typically deployed for supply chain deliveries in factories. At Marina Bay Sands, a renowned integrated resort, the AMRs perform manpower-heavy task such as deliveries.
Previously, the resort managed over 200 manual deliveries daily across 80 internal routes. But as delivery volumes surged by 35 per cent between 2019 and 2023, the resort turned to automation to manage growing demands and free up manpower for higher-value work.
Using the AMRs has resulted in a 30 per cent drop in labour dependency, with members of the procurement and supply chain team now trained in new roles such as inventory management and robot dispatching.
At Marina Bay Sands, each AMR carries up to 300kg and moves at a speed of 84 metres per minute. Equipped with laser scanners, the robots detect obstacles and navigate safely around them using pre-programmed routes, which number about 20 each.
Going beyond the AMRs, the integrated resort has automated over 200 work processes across various business functions. This has resulted in the repurposing of over 162,000 manhours annually towards greater value-added tasks. Marina Bay Sands expects to deploy another five AMRs in the second half of 2025.
“Running a large-scale integrated resort like Marina Bay Sands requires effective workforce planning, and since Day One, we have fostered a culture of productivity by investing in innovation,” said Shijith Prathapan, vice-president of procurement and supply chain at Marina Bay Sands yesterday.
He added that the integrated resort aims to continue to work with its suppliers to implement more innovative tools to improve workplace processes and enhance productivity.
An existing example of automation is The Wardrobe, a system that manages over 200,000 pieces of uniforms via 18 conveyors operating 24/7. In the past, the stock-taking was done manually.
To improve efficiency, each uniform was embedded with a high-frequency chip for tracking location and wash counts. In 2024, the chips were replaced with an ultra-high-frequency chip.
In addition, the inventory management system was also upgraded to enable automated stocktaking. A trolley of uniforms is pushed into a high-tech black box known as the U-Door, which counts up to 400 pieces of clothing in 30 seconds.
Marina Bay Sands’ technology adoption extends to food waste management. The integrated resort introduced five aerobic digesters in 2013 that break down food waste into non-potable water for discharge.
The resort also concluded a two-year pilot of WasteMaster, a system that transforms food waste into fish feed for a local aquaponics farm in 2024. The waste from the farmed fish was broken down into fertiliser used to grow vegetables, which were then sold in local supermarkets and restaurants.
“In 2024, we diverted 65 per cent of our food waste and aim to reach 100 per cent by the end of 2025,” said Meridith Beaujean, executive director of sustainability at Marina Bay Sands.
Currently, the resort processes and diverts up to 12,000kg of food waste each day. Since 2013, it has kept nearly 10 million kilograms of food waste out of landfills. Efforts include freezing surplus but safe food for donation to partners like The Food Bank Singapore.
