AMAZON

NAME - Neha Palkar

Roll No – 1
FACULTY – Anand Deshpande Sir
Assignment No- 2
Sem: 6
 WHAT IS SCM?
In commerce, supply chain management is
the management of the flow of goods and
services between businesses and locations.
This can include the movement and storage
of raw materials, work-in-process inventory,
finished goods, and end to end order
fulfilment from the point of origin to the point
of consumption
 E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying
and selling of goods and services, or the
transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic
network, primarily the internet. These business
transactions occur either as B2B , B2C, C2C or C2B
 COMPANY PROFILE
AMAZON

Amazon is an American multinational technology
company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud
computing, digital streaming, and artificial
intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the
most influential economic and cultural forces in the
world and is one of the world's most valuable brands.
.
 SCM PROCESS IN AMAZON
The term Amazon supply chain essentially refers to Amazon’s
entire process from product warehousing to inventory
management, pricing, delivery, and more. Amazon has
optimized each of these elements to ensure that everything is
working smoothly and efficiently. With third-party sellers
being responsible for 55% of all sales made on Amazon,
Amazon offers two fulfillment options to sellers
FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)
FBM (Fulfilment by Merchant)
 PROCUREMENT
▣ The role of procurement in an organization is to get
the right material in the right amount to the right
place at the right time and for the right price. This
involves far more than just purchasing. Procurement
involves all activities related to acquiring goods and
services such as:
▣ Selecting vendors
▣ Establishing payment terms
▣ Strategic vetting
▣ Selecting and negotiating contracts
▣ Actual purchasing of goods
▣ Managing supplier relationships
 MANUFACTURING
The internet has changed the way we do everything, including
how we shop. E-commerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba
control a large chunk of online buying and selling, but what is
the secret to their success? Alibaba’s success is partly due to its
strategy of forming extremely close partnerships with the
manufacturers themselves, and Amazon has begun to adopt
this methodology in the last few years.
 Distribution channel
▣ Amazon's business model follows both a B2C and
B2-B distribution strategy. Indeed, on the one hand, its
e-commerce platform is consumer-facing, providing millions
of products to billions of users around the world.

▣ Currently Amazon operates a variety of different types of

fulfillment and distribution centers in the United
States including small sortable, large sortable, large
non-sortable, specialty apparel and footwear, specialty small
parts, returns processing centers, and outsourced facilities.
 Warehouse management
▣ Amazon WMS is a cloud-based warehouse
management system that allows eligible sellers to
manage their inventory and orders. Built with
Amazon's deep expertise in building world-class
supply chain and fulfilment systems, Amazon
WMS is a simple yet powerful tool to streamline
your warehouse operations.
 SCM DRIVERS
Logistical Drivers:
▣ The logistical drivers are facilities, inventory, and transportation. The two
main facilities are storage and production sites. Inventory denotes all raw
materials, WIP, and finished goods in a supply chain. On the other hand,
transportation involves moving inventory from point to point.

Cross-Functional Drivers:
▣ Information, sourcing, and pricing are cross-functional drivers, which
determine in some ways the performance of a supply chain. Information is
data about facilities, inventory, transportation, costs, prices, and customers
throughout the supply chain, also gives shipping options to managers.
Sourcing is the particular supply chain activity that should be done inside a
firm or procured from other entities. Pricing drivers determine the price of
goods and services that the supply chain produces. Early orders are less
likely if with lead time price does not vary. Without investing in facility,
manufacturing, etc. supply chain managers can consider the price change
option in some cases.
 SUPPLY CHAIN DECISIONS
▣ Sellers who sell on the Amazon Marketplace have different
fulfillment options to choose from. Sellers can choose whether
they want to handle fulfillment or let Amazon sort, package
and ship products through their own fulfillment centers.

As a third party seller selling on the Amazon Marketplace you

have the option to use Amazon’s fulfillment services:

▣ Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) – Sellers leverage Amazon’s

fulfillment for products sold on the Amazon Marketplace

▣ Or sell using your own fulfillment (FBM) – Sellers handle

fulfillment for their products sold on the Amazon Marketplace
 Amazon business strategy is guided by four
principles:
▣  customer obsession rather than competitor
focus
▣ passion for invention
▣ commitment to operational excellence
▣ long-term thinking,
 Challenges in scm
▣ Ensuring Supply Is Sufficient for Demand.
Incorrect forecasting of demand typically
results in dissatisfaction among consumers.
▣ Preparing Resources for More Deliveries.
▣ Improving Technical Infrastructure for Spikes
in Orders.
 Technologies used

The Amazon supply chain management

approach is to embrace technology. The
company utilizes countless automation and
robotic solutions, both to pick and pack
orders as well as stacking and storing
inventory
Many things have changed since Amazon's acquisition of Kiva PODS. Nowadays,
it is difficult to find something that has not been thoroughly reviewed. In an Amazon
warehouse, everything is mechanized.

Following packing, an automated labeling system and miles of conveyor and

sortation devices are installed. There are many warehouse robots, strategic, and
engineered for maximum efficiency. All of Amazon's Warehouse robotics are listed
here.
Amazon's agv robots appear to impact the company's efforts to
provide more consistent income for its warehouse workers, but their
roles in safety and efficiency are undisputed.

From only a few years ago to today, Amazon has grown far
beyond that physical and mechanical warehouse you used to
know.

Now, Amazon is taking automation one step further. The company

uses a multitude types of warehouse automation technologies to
improve productivity and profitability at its warehouses, distribution
centers and fulfillment centers.
Amazon AGV Pods
When you enter into an Amazon fulfillment center, the robots may not look like your
typical sci-fi expectations, but they pack more than human hands could ever achieve.

At the fulfillment centers, Amazon robotic pods transport items to humans to be picked up
and packaged (what is called Goods-To-Person).

Using this robot-human alliance, humans can pack around 300 to 400 products per
hour instead of just 100.

The "Amazon Bot System," is continuously optimized to increase package handling and
delivery efficiency.

This robotization started when Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, one of the pioneers of
warehouse robots, in 2012.

Just like the scenes in The Jetsons where robot neighbors will assist their human
house-mates, Amazon Kiva robots were expected to automate more than 40% of
their operations in fulfillment centers.
The Original Kiva was the starting point for Amazon's love affair
with robots.The Original Kiva is tasked with moving shelves/pods
for storage and picking.

KIVA robot measures approximately 1x1m and is about 75 cm

long and 60 cm wide. In addition to being 35cm tall and weighing
around 110kg), this device can lift 450 kilograms (1000 pounds).
This robot meets a speed of about 5 km/h.
The Hercules
Kiva Systems introduced Hercules in 2007. When it was initially introduced, it
was called the DU 3000, as it could lift 3000 pounds.Heavy-duty lifting is
possible with this device. Hercules functions in the same way as its smaller
cousin (the DU1000), but it can lift much more weight. All dimensions of the
robot are larger, so the pods are similarly larger. The pallet-pods also have legs
so the robot can go underneath.
The Pegasus

Taking its name from the mythical winged horse, Pegasus replaces the original Kiva.
The original Kiva still performs the same job, moving pods around.However, it stands
19 cm tall, 10 cm lower than the original. Now you can store stuff 10cm deeper. As
well as lifting 560kg, it is slightly more powerful than its predecessor, which could lift
just 450 kilograms. It also costs less since it has only half as many parts!
Since the company would have to spend a lot of money replacing all original Kivas, it
won't likely happen. The Pegasus may, however, be used in new fulfillment centers.
Specifically, Amazon wants to use it close to cities. They want to locate more fulfillment
centers close to high population densities for delivery within two hours or even with
one-hour times.
However, being near a big population means everyone else wants access to the site,
which becomes very expensive. To reduce investment costs, the Pegasus makes it
easier to store more stuff in a warehouse. Amazon has already installed several hundred
Pegasus robots.
 Amazon sorting robots in the warehouse
The Pegasus X-Sort Drive
Using the Pegasus as the base, different attachments can be added on top. X-Sort
Drive, a half-meter belt of conveyor, is an example of such an attachment.
There is no pod-carrying function for this robot, and its purpose is completely different.
Rather than sorting and delivering completed parcels, the device carries them to
shipping.

A worker labels the package and places it on a robot. It moves it to the relevant chute
according to the truck that the parcel should go to. On the conveyor belt, the parcel is
simply dropped into the chute.

As a concept, this is nothing new, and videos from China from a few years ago show
how warehouses used similar sorting technology. Nonetheless, this is a very nice
implementation.

Amazon benefits from increased flexibility thanks to this. Pegasus X-Sort Drive allows
much more flexibility to change the fulfillment center than tangled murky conveyor
belts do now. Amazon claims that it has also halved the number of mis-sorting errors.
But due to the increased number of robots moving around on this Pegasus, Amazon
had to create a new traffic control system to program even more traffic rules.
Amazon Hybrid (G2p+Sorting sorting robots
Amazon Hybrid (G2p+Sorting sorting robots

Unlike the main sorting robots, hybrid robotics systems include two kinds of
robots: SCARA style and LBRY/Parabolic Trough Robotics.The systems can
place eight separate packages in an hour, including packages from small bins
with packing peanuts. At Amazon fulfillment centers, Xanthus is the lone child
in the family of hybrid robots.

Xanthus succeeded Pegasus. In June 2019, Amazon MARS presented this robot
for the first time. This drive unit can also carry pods, but it can be used with a
variety of attachments.

Compared to the original Kiva, it is cheaper, easier to use, and thinner. Having
fewer parts means there is less maintenance required.

Attachments for the Xanthus can be varied. In the center is the base unit. Its left
and right sides contain x-drive units, similar to the Pegasus's X-Sort drives, which
sort packages into chutes.
Sparrow Picking Robotic Arm
 Amazon Picking Robots

Picking is the next robotics generation and Amazon is increasing efforts to have
reliable piece picking robots.

Amazon claims that Sparrow employs AI and computer vision to pick items..
The robot can firmly hold objects thanks to suction cups attached to its surface. In the
past, robotic arms could pick up boxes of varying sizes but uniform shapes.
Sparrow can handle objects of varying curvature and size.

The technology behind is not just picking up the same objects over and over and
moving it with tremendous precision, as was shown with earlier robots.
AMAZON claims that its robotic arm can identify roughly 65% of their product
range.

Even while the introduction of warehouse robots sometimes raises fears about the
future of human employment, Amazon is certain that Sparrow will "take up boring
activities," freeing up workers' time to focus on more meaningful tasks.
Cardinal
Cardinal was announced on 2022 June the 22nd. It arrived to improve
operator's ergonomic working conditions by reducing of twisting and
turning motions.
Cardinal is a robotic arm able to handle packages up to 50 pounds (near
22 kg). Thanks to its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and computer
vision is able to choose one package out of a pile. But not only, it can
also read a label and wisely place it in a cart (what Amazon calls
"GoCart").

After that, a mobile robot like Proteus can safely transport it to its
destination.
Proteus
 Other Amazon warehouse robots
With Amazon's growth comes a rapid rise in the demand for new warehouse robots for
new applications. Thus, the company has been on the hunt for warehouse robots for the
past few years.

Proteus is the first autonomous mobile robot developed by AMAZON. It has been
announced on 2022 June the 22nd.
Proteus Robot is the first AMAZON's "autonomous" robot, because until now, AMAZON
has used G2P robots with QR code navigation that is not considered under the
"autonomous" umbrella.
If you do not know how do AMRs differ from AGVs, check this article: Differences between
automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots.
Proteus instead, is able to navigate and moves through AMAZON's facilities using
advanced safety, perception, and navigation technology developed by Amazon.

The robot has been built to be able to work and move around employees and not in
confined to restricted areas.

In fact, proteus will act like and autonomous guided cart, moving carts what will reduce the
need for people to manually move heavy objects through facilities.
Bert and Ernie
Bert and Ernie are front-loading warehouse robots used in the Amazon fulfillment
centers, designed to handle an estimated 40% of all Amazon's orders.Ernie moves
around the stack using a robotic arm. Ernie takes totes off of a robotic shelf and uses a
robotic arm to deliver it to employees, so they can remain in a more comfortable, stable,
and ergonomically friendly position.

It lifts totes from the stack to place them in front of workers. By easily reaching low down
or high up, Ernie reduces the risk of injuries caused by employees making strenuous
movements.
Totes can be removed from shelves by Ernie, which then hands the goods over to human
workers. Workers in warehouses don't have to bend over or crouch down for totes.
Although robots like Ernie don't make processes go faster, they reportedly make employee
safety a priority.

In contrast, Bert is mobile and can navigate the warehouse with the help of cameras and
sensors. It can be ordered and programmed to transport packages within a facility by a
worker.
By eliminating manual labor, workers focus on more important tasks instead of pushing
or driving the machine. Currently, Bert is a bit too small to transport bulkier and heavier
items, but a larger version might be designed after testing. Various items can be moved by
Bert through a warehouse by itself, including smaller objects, eliminating the need for
additional trips by employees.
Scooter and Kermit
The other robots in Amazon warehouses are Scooter and Kermit. These two
robots are designed to move carts.

In the long run, the company believes these robots will eliminate the need
for workers to move empty boxes across facilities. The robots help
Amazon employees devote more time to activities requiring critical thinking by
reducing physical demands.

Scooter and Kermit are both autonomously guided vehicles.

Kermit is an automated guided cart (agc) with magnetic navigation where
decision points are tags on the flooor tha indicate if it should change direction,
speed up or slow down as it travels along. The company plans to have
Scooter at each of its facilities pulling carts around the warehouse.
Scooter is an automated tractor that tows empty totes around, Kemet
specializes in returning empty totes. The company says it has made its
facilities safer by using Scooter and Kermit.
Amazon Automated Forklifts
To boost productivity, Amazon has been expanding its forklift fleet at a rapid pace. And the robotic
system plays an integral role.

Once an Amazon employee scans an item for delivery, the forklift lifts it to drop it at its destination. Or it
might take a pallet from the delivery truck to a designated slot within the warehouse.

In 2019 Amazon signed a deal with French robotics company Balyo. A warrant representing up to 29 %
of Balyo's capital was handed to Amazon in exchange for Balyo products.

Today, BALYO supplies automated forklift systems (stackers, pallet jacks, VNAs, etc), tow tractors, and
other robotics systems to Amazon, which has significantly advanced the latter's warehouse automation
endeavors.

Amazon benefits from having forklifts that run around the clock, never quit and operate without
fatigue. Human drivers may not be completely replaced for several years to come. Still, the technology
is currently on its way to reducing costs and expediting what is already a fairly efficient process.