It has been roughly four decades since industrial robots - with mechanical arms that can be programmed to weld, paint and pick up and place objects with monotonous regularity - first began to transform assembly lines in Europe, Japan and the U.S. Yet walk the floor of any manufacturer, from metal shops to electronics factories, and you might be surprised by how many tasks are still performed by human hands - even some that could be done by machines.

For 130 years, Chicago and New York City have been locked in a battle of the skyscrapers. Nine of the tallest buildings in the U.S., as well as more than one-half of the nation's towers greater than 785 feet, were built in just those two cities.

Are robots taking over the warehouse?

The North American robotics market is off to its fastest start ever in 2015, according to statistics released from Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry's trade group.

Warehouse personnel are adopting order fulfillment technologies, re-organization techniques, and picking optimization methods to create efficient operations to answer the growing demands of customers.

A conversation with Britt Dayton, director of Deloitte Consulting.

Like C-3PO and R2-D2, some robot pairs are a match made in mechanized heaven. Now, a new team, Fetch and Freight, can eliminate much of the efficiency-botching human labor from warehouses, getting that Amazon shipment to your door faster than ever.