Amazon Scm Case

Amazon

Blake Langenstein, Matthew Pacioni, Rena Molnar

MKT 625: Supply Chain Logistics

Instructor: Rammohan Pisharodi

4/12/2016

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Company Background 3

Order Management and Customer Service 4

Inventory Management 7

Transportation 9

Distribution Center Network 9

Fulfillment Centers 9

Human-machine collaboration 11

How it Works 12

Sortation Network 13

Game Changer 15

Supply Chain Weakness 16

Conclusion 17

References 18

Amazon

Introduction

It can be argued that since the inception of the internet, the way we conduct business has been forever changed. Today’s consumers know a convenience of purchasing products and services that was quite unheard of just a few decades ago. The internet has eliminated many geographical barriers, increased the speed of order delivery, and broadened the range of product offerings to consumers, in addition to greatly improving a company’s ability to handle inventory management, warehousing, and distribution. One company that has taken advantage of these developments is Amazon.

Company Background

Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos out of his garage in 1994. The idea of Amazon came after Bezos read several reports projecting the tremendous growth of the internet. The company decided to sell books online due to the large market, low price points, and the large selection of titles that were available. The idea of an online bookstore started after speaking with John Ingram of Ingram Book, who was able to offer Amazon access to books at wholesale prices. The name was chosen to match the “exotic” nature and size that Bezos planned for the future of his corporation. Seattle was selected as the company headquarters because it was well known for its large work force specializing in technology and was in close proximity to a book distribution center in Oregon. The web site debuted in July of 1995 and soon after became the number one site on the internet associated with books.

Throughout the 90s and...