Arceneaux, the mayor of Shreveport, La., was getting his first look at Amazon's new 2.5 million-square-foot fulfillment center, which the e-commerce giant had built in his city.

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"This is big, big, big stuff," Arceneaux told the Shreveport Times in September. "We are thrilled to have all of the workers and members of the Amazon team who are here to carry out their purpose and their mission."

Named SHV1 after nearby Shreveport Regional Airport, the facility is one of two state-of-the-art robotics Amazon centers in Louisiana.

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"A lot of things that the robots do in any of our Amazon robotics, sortable buildings in North America is to assist humans," Abhishek Gowrishankar, the center's general manager said, such as reducing the need for people to walk a long distance or lift something that's too heavy.

Shreveport pretty much owes its existence to technology.

In 1836, Capt. Henry Miller Shreve led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' efforts to remove the Great Raft, a massive natural logjam that was obstructing shipping in the Red River.

Shreve used a specially modified riverboat, the Heliopolis, to clear the way, and the town that grew out of this endeavor was named in his honor.

Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy gave Shreveport a shoutout during the e-commerce titan's Oct. 31 third-quarter earnings call, telling analysts that "we continue to innovate in robotics to speed delivery, lower cost to serve, and further improve safety in our fulfillment network."

The facility, which boasts the latest in Amazon's robotics, is designed to simplify how the e-commerce giant stores, picks, packs, and ships the products it sells.

Related: Goldman Sachs analyst revisits Amazon stock price target ahead of earnings

"Thus far, this new design reduces fulfillment processing time by up to 25%, increases the number of items we can offer for same-day or next-day delivery, and is expected to drive a 25% improvement in our cost to serve during peak within this next-generation facility," Jassy added.

Amazon, which posted better-than-expected results, says it has more expansive automation and robotics plans than other retail peers. And Jassy added, "It's still early days in how much automation we expect in our fulfillment network."

Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said the Seattle company is increasing robotics and automation in the fulfillment network, including using artificial intelligence.