Amazon

                              MGS 4010 Operations Management                                   Team 2 Amazon 

This report is a combination of different efforts. We would like to express our gratitude to our professor. Acknowledgment is here to show the professor that our group understands what is expected of us by specific timeframes. There are requirements to be met when completing each task, and it is essential that as students of this course, we understand and that the professor sees that we comprehend the topic before moving forward. For the duration of this semester, our group understands that communication within the group is essential for our success.  We commit to each delivering our own contributions to this project, and working together as a team to provide the best possible outcome. We understand that this project requires work outside the class scheduled time, and will work within our schedules to work together on it in accordance with all of the assigned due dates.  In addition, we all agree to equally participate in the final presentation by creating notes and delivering an enter

Purpose of report:  The purpose of this report is to analyze Amazon's operations and processes that are essential to their business functions. This report will focus on Amazon’s operations, locations, size, competitive capabilities, revenue, and have a main focus on on sustainability and reverse logistics. We will also identify opportunities that Amazon has to improve in the future.  What is Amazon?   Amazon is one of  the largest online retailers in the world and is continuing to expand. The company is based in Seattle, Washington, where it was founded in a garage in 1994 by Jeff Bezos with his parents, the startup's leading investors. Bezos’ family invested a total of $250000 in the same year. The company grew rapidly, and within the first three months after its founding, it had made sales in over 50 states of the US and more than 45 countries all over the world. At present, Amazon has employed more than 1.13 million people globally. The slogan of the company is "Work ha

Amazon is an online retailer that deals with a wide range of products and operates in many countries. Each product offered by the company is fed into its inventory management system, where its status at the company is indicated. The products can be categorized as available, inbound, unfulfillable, or reserved. Products tagged “available" can be ordered and shipped to the client since they are in the company's stock. Inbound products are goods that have been scheduled in shipping plans, in-transit, or currently being processed at the fulfillment warehouses. Unfulfillable products are available in the company’s warehouse but cannot be ordered or purchased because they are either under inspection or repair due to damages. The last category of goods on Amazon's website is categorized under reserved products. This means that they are received by the company's fulfillment centers and are associated with another warehouse or under shipment. One of Amazon's unique operatio

Since its founding, Amazon has expanded its operation to different states in the US and other countries all over the world.  The company has more than 110 active fulfillment centers in the United States and has 185 centers globally.  In the US, New Jersey has the 3rd largest number of fulfillment centers with 10. More than one million employees are employed in various fulfillment centers all over the world. Plans to develop an additional 33 fulfillment centers in the United States are underway since they majorly operate in North America. One of the main steps they have taken to lower carbon emissions directly is expanding the amount of fulfillment centers.  These new and improved centers will be called mini-fulfillment centers, they are about a tenth of the size of a regular center.  The reasoning behind these centers is to create a quicker and more efficient delivery system.  This will allow for same day delivery and enables the three functions of shipping, sorting, and delivery stati

Cost - Amazon business strategy can be described as cost leadership taken to the extreme. Range, price and convenience are placed at the core of Amazon competitive advantage. Two years ago, Amazon was seen  beating top competitors  on price, with Target's prices in particular  16.9% more expensive than Amazon.  Time - Amazon offers 2 day shipping to Prime members for people who are ordering things time sensitive. Amazon is also efficient in running their warehouses and fulfillment centers to not waste time. Flexibility -   Amazon was #3 on the flex job annual list of top 100 employers who offer the most flexibility to employees. They work hard to find the best talent and create roles that work well for their employees. Quality - Amazon offers good quality products for great prices online, They have struggled maintaining their quality approach in the past which is something that they are looking to fix in the future.

  This is a flow chart of the process of placing an order through Amazon.  Amazon is an online retailer that deals with a wide range of products and operates in many countries. Each product offered by the company is fed into its inventory management system, where its status at the company is indicated. The products can be categorized as available, inbound, unfulfillable, or reserved. Products tagged “available" can be ordered and shipped to the client since they are in the company's stock. Inbound products are goods that have been scheduled in shipping plans, in-transit, or currently being processed at the fulfillment warehouses. Unfulfillable products are available in the company’s warehouse but cannot be ordered or purchased because they are either under inspection or repair due to damages. The last category of goods on Amazon's website is categorized under reserved products. This means that they are received by the company's fulfillment centers and are associated wi

Amazon is a lot of things for tons of people, but one thing it's never been able to claim is the status of an environmentally friendly company. Through its comprehensive shipping and distribution facilities, Amazon accounts for considerable oil and gas use, potential emissions, and extensive packaging. It cannot avoid shipping—as it is the primary basis for its competitive advantage—but they are willing to find some innovative ways to reduce its environmental effects.   When talking to our manager Mr. Delucca our main question was how are you handling the push to become more efficient and eco friendly.  This was our main area of focus because Amazon has kept their carbon footprint figures hidden for so long.  Also with their sheer volume of shipping and packaging required we wanted to know what they were doing to reduce their carbon emissions.  He let us know that their goal is to be a circular economy with their goals of sustainability. Amazon has  developed a system of five modul

  This figure shows how amazon handles their reverse logistics (returns of customers). This process allows amazon to avoid paying employees to go to your house and pick up your packages and also avoid the emissions that will result from that return.  In the past, when customers needed to return different goods, they would typically send the items back to the store. In the case of some goods, returns were free; others required customers to pay the return shipping fees. However, regardless of whether or not the buyers paid to make the returns, each return shipment involved the use of additional resources and logistics tools. Now, amazon has partnered with Kohls to encourage consumers to take their unwanted goods to brick and mortar stores, this is in support of reverse logistics supply chain.  Not only does this help with the sustainability project but also improves customer satisfaction and convenience.  This agreement also includes that to return your product there is no need to repack

  Amazon, as the world's largest e-commerce company, exemplifies the importance of technologically assisted productivity for optimum service performance. To maximize efficiency, the organization must resolve the needs of strategic decision areas of operations management. Some of this strategic decisions are part of their Operations Planning system which include: Layout Design and Strategy, Location and Strategy, Job Design and Human Resource, Inventory Management and Maintenance. 

  To ensure that resources meet business demands, operations managers accept intermediate and short-term schedules. Amazon's online retail company depends on the participation of suppliers in this strategic decision field. Suppliers, for example, use the company's website to estimate demand and adjust their shipment and distribution schedules accordingly. Amazon's operations management also automates delivery schedules involving its fulfillment centers, which charge retailers for shipping services.

  Amazon offers a wide range of products compared to all the other companies and delivers all orders in time, including free 2-day shipping for Prime members. The company has seen exponential growth in revenue between 2004 and 2019 because of its competitive capabilities. In 2019, approximately $170.77 billion was earned in North America compared to $74.7 billion internationally. Amazon is also expected to double their revenue in their forecast for 2025.  

With the challenges that Amazon is facing, there are a few recommendations to help better come up with a  final solution for the brand and company as a whole.  With our chosen topic amazon has shown to be trying to spearhead their operations to reduce and lower their production times so there isn't much we can suggest on this except to continue with the programs they have in place.  Below we have come up with just a few recommendations that they can add.  To list a couple, expanding the mini fulfillment centers to allow for more efficient returns and deliveries to help with reverse logistics. According to Geek wire, The tech giant has quietly built smaller versions of its fulfillment centers closer to customers in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando and Dallas. This has helped with same-day delivery in those specific areas. With the changes being made, this shows that Amazon is getting ahead of their competitors that are also having deliveries within a specific timeframe. These changes

    Amazon is one of the most outstanding companies and the largest online retailer in the world. It is known for its distribution of well-established industries through technological innovation. Throughout this report the analyzing of Amazon’s operations, locations, size, competitive capabilities, revenue, and sustainable strategies have been mentioned and brought into further detail. The operations of one of the Amazon locations is managed by Javier Delucca and he shed some light on how they run their operations.   The challenges that amazon faces are: continuing to reduce their carbon footprint, including the reduction of their carbon footprint with international returns. Recommendations to help face the challenges from amazon are: expanding the mini fulfillment centers to allow for more efficient returns and deliveries to help with reverse logistics and Amazon’s continuations of programs to reach the 2040 goal of net zero carbon emissions. Amazon encourages employees to be bold and