Amazon: Leader in Supply Chain
If you are a supply chain major, or work in the industry, you can’t help but be intrigued by Amazon. An e-commerce company that is constantly setting new standards for complex supply chains. So what makes us supply chain brains so fascinated by Amazon? Let me explain…
Amazon’s Quick Delivery Promises
Amazon has got the system down when it comes to quick delivery. According to an article by Paul Simpson, Amazon has a network of more than 100 warehouses in the US alone. Amazon needs to have an immense amount of data on their inventory positions in every fulfillment center. This allows them to find, dispatch the product as quickly as possible often within 48 hours and get it to the customer on time and as promised. This key factor keeps customers happy and loyal.
Fun fact: I was told by an Amazon recruiter that the shortest Amazon delivery was a 12 minutes. It was using their bike deliveries in NYC, and it was a Frozen Doll.
Amazon’s Wide-Range of Products
What can you not find on Amazon.com? In the article, Simpson states, “At some point in the near future, 85% of the world’s products will be available on Amazon.” This is truly amazing when thinking about the complexity of a supply chain that has such a wide-range of products.
Think about it… selling nail polish is different than selling books which is different than selling electronics and so on. So how does Amazon do it? The article says this is all possible because of their “masterstroke … to invest relentlessly, spending billions on infrastructure and technology.” This brings me to my next point.
Amazon’s Innovation
Amazon has experimented with many different technologies. From robots in some of their fulfillment centers, automation for many of their processes to drone delivery, Amazon is not writing anything off to help optimize their business. Amazon even has a patent on a flying warehouse! (Read more about the airborne fulfillment center here).
Amazon has truly captured the full-scope of what supply chains require and how to look towards innovation to keep ahead of the curve. I admire their forward thinking and their customer centric approach as it is definitely not the easiest approach for a business to adopt. In the future the industry will continue to look to Amazon to see the innovations the company will bring to the supply chain world, I know I will.
