Amazon's Supply Chain: A Perfect Rolemodel

With over 230 million customers from all over the world, amazon is changing the way we shop. Amazon has a commitment to get the customer their product quickly and efficiently. Something that most of us don't think about after clicking on the check out button, is what is really going on behind the scenes between warehousing, shipment, and product management. According to Garters Amazon has the #3 supply chain in the world behind Apple, and McDonalds. While there is so much detail that stands out about Amazon's supply chain, I will only be going into detail about their warehouses. hopefully giving you an idea of how the item gets to your door.

Before getting into Amazon's supply chain methods, it is important to point out that they have business ethics in the forefront when making supplier decisions. They talk about bribery, child labor, hours of work, business ethics, and more on their website. This is important because some of their competitors (Walmart & Apple) get ridiculed for having their suppliers get (or make) their product in poor conditions.

What happens when you click purchase?
In Amazon's 96 warehouses world wide the obvious goal is to store all of the products their customers may order online in the future, as well as how to pick and ship them quickly. So as soon as you click purchase, Amazon's warehouse robots called "Kiva" drive to a bin location (where the product is), picks up the cart, and then drives it to the picking and shipping area to be picked and shipped, then taking the cart back to the proper location.

Courtesy: Amazon

As soon as the Kiva gets the item to the picking location the picker then scans the proper item on the customers order getting it ready to be shipped.  After your order gets picked, and scanned, the order needs to be packaged, and can be sent to your front door. This is an efficient process for Amazon as they are proud of the customer order, order fulfillment time span that they do have.

Future
Amazon takes great pride in that they are a role model for technology at their company. This doesn't stop at their robots, as they have been looking into using drones to ship small items. Amazon also has been selling groceries to some of their customers online, with the USPS being a possible shipper for those.

Check out one of the videos below for more information about Amazon's Warehouse & Technology.
60 Minutes: Amazon
Kiva Robot

Hope you were able to learn a little bit of the work that goes on behind the scenes at Amazon to get you your product.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew Niedert

3D Printing: The Future of Supply Chain & Manufacturing?

3D Printing is a buzz word in many settings right now, including the supply chain and technology area. So what is it exactly? 3D printing is the ability to make 3 dimensional parts or graphs, based off of dimensions given to the machine. This technology has been around for over 30 years, however the costs have always outweighed the benefits until recently. 3D Printing has taken off as of late because the costs allow bigger companies to put the technology in place at a lower costs.

Below is a picture of a large 3D printer. There is a screen to enter the dimensions and specifications necessary to make the part, and the middle where the part is made. 

Picture Courtesy: 3D Print.com

How does this apply to Supply Chain?

With the ability to manufacture plastic and metal parts within the 2-thousandth of an inch, 3D printing allows companies to be more lenient with their inventory in a variety of ways. For example, if there is a part that rarely gets used the company may wish to utilize 3D printing rather than carry the part and deal with holding costs. This allows the company to rely less on forecasting and use more of a Just In Time approach, taking away some of the risk of their supply chain as well. 

This can be utilized by small companies as well because a smaller 3D printer can be purchased. This can still help them because a usual barrier to entry is the big cost of research and design, as well as casting. That casting cost will be cut down because they have the ability to make the part themselves with the 3D printer. 

This technology for the reasons mentioned above and more could prove to be a heavy part of supply chain and manufacturing in the future. If you are curious about learning more, check out some of the other ways 3D printing can be used by clicking the links below!

3D Printing in Retail: Forbes

3D Printing Changing the World: The Economist

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

Careers in Supply Chain & Information Systems

As a Supply Chain and Information Systems major, I realized quickly many aren't aware about the types of jobs out there for the students with this major. Supply chain management in itself is a broad term that could land you a role in operations, logistics and trucking, material handling, or purchasing. Information systems is also broad and could range from doing the back end coding for a company system, or working as a business analyst.

The career outlook for both majors looks bright, as technology and the supply chain environment is growing so quickly. If you are curious about what kinds of jobs you can receive as a supply chain or IS major check some out below!

• Supply Chain

1.  Materials scheduler- A materials scheduler is in charge of coordinating production schedules with the inventory of the production environment. This could be at a large manufacturing plant facilitating part movement, or for a store like Walmart or Target maintaining proper inventory.
2. Procurement Analyst -  A procurement analyst can work with the end product directly or indirectly. For example a procurement analyst for a auto manufacturer could be in charge of buying things like the seats inside your car, or the machine that puts the car together.
3. Logistics Analyst - Logistics Analysts could be in charge of a multitude of things such as operations, trucking, or product flow. They could be in charge of making sure the part gets from the supplier to the company without damage, as well as the flow of the part within the manufacturing plant. 

• Information Systems

1.  Database Administrator- The database administrator is responsible for maintaining accurate data within a company database. They would make sure that all the data is stored properly and easily obtainable for reports/audits.
2. Business Analyst- Business Analyst is a less technical job for information systems majors. The business analyst is a median for the IT at the workplace and the end user. Business analysts mix their business and technical background to continuously improve systems for a workplace. 
3. Product Support Specialist- If you are in this position you are responsible for a certain software at a company. This could be maintenance of a software, or just everyday expertise for an end user of the software.

Jobs in information systems according to Forbes had a median salary of 88K in 2012, while a supply chain job like procurement analyst had a median salary of 65K. The jobs I mentioned above are just a few of the ones available. I hope you were able to learn more about the possibilities of both!

For more information about jobs in either field, check out the links below!
Supply Chain Digest
Forbes


Thanks for reading-

Andrew

Empty Shelves -- Causing Customer Frustration & Retail Losses

Like me, many of you probably don't like going to a store and finding out the item that you are looking for isn't on the shelf. As much as we may blame the store, they wish they could always have the proper amount of inventory on hand to supply the demand so we can spend our money at their store. So how does this problem get fixed? By spending some money and updating the technology in place this could soon be a problem no more at retail stores because of RFID.

RFID, radio frequency identification, is something that has been around for awhile now. This is usually used to track shipments instead of bar codes. This works because it wirelessly sends a signal out that can be tracked in an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, or by a hand held device scanner. The tags contain an intenna that sends out necessary information such as location, and can include other options subject to demand.

Photo Courtesy : barcodesinc.com

Now you may be wondering, how does this help me shop? Here is how...

It has been going through testing, but the RFID tags will soon be in most stores. If the store decides to use RFID they can place this on the price tag of the clothes or items that it carries. Doing so will allow the store to track exactly what they have in their inventory easier and more accuratley than a bar code will allow. In a recent test Bloomingdales used this product with clothes at their stores and only put one size of each clothing option on the floor. This allowed them to reduce their inventory, and track the item from when it got to their store, when it went to the shelf, and when it went home with you, the customer.

As technology has grown every store is interested in getting as much data that will be useful to them as they can. Implementing RFID tags at their stores will allow them to know what is on their shelves and what is in inventory more accurately than ever before. This will also help them re-order a particular product at the optimal re-order point meaning when you go to a store, the product will be there.

Of course this all has costs, however the cost of the technology is growing cheaper, and customer satisfaction is always a high priority. If the stores do implement this technology going forward, look to go to stores and get the item you desire. 

You can learn more about RFID tags with the links below:
Forbes
RFID Journal


Thanks for reading!

Andrew Niedert