Process Driven Organizations
Process driven organizations are the exact opposite of a people driven organization. It relies on the principles of Corporate Law which states that any organization is a separate entity which has come into existence. Its existence is different from and not dependant on the existence of its promoters. It is an artificial person created by […]
Emergence of ERP System
Introduction Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP is one the most common term used among corporate world, business school and in the technology structure. There are several definitions of the ERP, but the term can be best understood if each word is looked at individually. Enterprise refers to any organization with aspiration and business motive. In […]
Criticisms of Globalization: Growing Income Inequality
More Losers than Winners The previous articles in this module covered the topic of globalization in depth. Some of the points of discussion were about how globalization has succeeded in lifting millions of people out of poverty. While accepting this fact, it is also the case that globalization has created income inequality which when coupled […]
Demand Planning and Master based Planning
Demand Planning: The objective of this function is to create a demand plan, based on historical sales data. The demand plan resulting from this function is the starting point for Supply Planning. The demand plan contains forecasted demand for an item, using standard forecasting methods. If the past data is inappropriate or insufficient, the forecast […]
Business Intelligence Architecture and Tools
Introduction Business intelligence is an important to ensure the following: Various decision-makers and analyst have a direct and un-interrupted access to data. The data been used across the organization should be non-disputable. Decision makers spend their time analyzing the data rather than collecting and formatting them. Decision makers are able to focus their energy in […]
To start with, Amazon’s SCM has a strategic fit with its competitive strategy of being the retailer of choice for its customers. The combination of multi-tier inventory management, superlative transportation, and highly efficient use of IT (Information Technology), and its wide network of warehouses are all geared towards aligning its SCM with its competitive strategy.
The next aspect is related to its outsourcing of its inventory management. Amazon outsources the storage and distribution of products that are not frequently purchased nor ordered for immediate delivery as well as products where the costs of storing them exceed the marginal returns on their sales.
On the other hand, Amazon stocks the frequently purchased and ordered items in its own warehouses so that it can be responsive to the customer needs as well as not compromise on the delivery times and the lead times. In other words, by segregating its inventory, Amazon is able to be responsive to the customers as well as cut costs or cut slack where it is needed (Kotler, 2012, 65).
Amazon divides its customer segments and follows a price differentiation strategy. The various forms of delivery are one day delivery, free super saver delivery, first class delivery, and prime customers delivery.
For all these segments, Amazon offers the customers an option of paying more for faster delivery or retains the traditional lead-time. Coupled with the inventory outsourcing, the customer segmentation into price-differentiated customers offers the company a nimbleness and agility in the market that changes with dynamic fluctuations in demand.
A key aspect of Amazon’s SCM is that it has evolved over the years in response to its growth in the market. For instance, Amazon started off as a bookstore, which acts as an intermediary between the buyers and the sellers and does not stock any product of its own.
Gradually, this gave way to holding some items in its own warehouses and at the present, Amazon follows a push-pull strategy wherein the inventory is held in a push strategy and the shipment of the orders is done in a pull strategy. Of course, even now, Amazon follows pure pull strategies for items that it does not stock.
Any discussion on Amazon’s SCM is incomplete without an analysis of its multi-tier inventory system. The first tier is the aggregation in the distribution centers, which ensures that Amazon holds fewer inventories and responds to demand in a dynamic manner.
The next tier is comprised of the partner distribution centers and the wholesalers wherein whenever an ordered product is not available in its own distribution centers; Amazon can rely on its partners and wholesalers to supply the customer with the required product.
Further, through the use of sophisticated and real time IT, Amazon is able to leverage efficiencies in its distribution.
The third tier is comprised of the networks of third party sellers, publishers, vendors, and manufacturers who ensure that Amazon acts as an intermediary that fulfills orders from customers by linking them to this tier.
The previous section has analyzed Amazon’s SCM in a detailed and comprehensive manner. By focusing on the five themes in which the analysis proceeded, we were able to identify the areas that Amazon does well in its SCM. However, there are components and aspects of the SCM of Amazon where improvements can be made. This section identifies those areas and proposes some recommendations that Amazon can follow and implement to make its SCM world class and be a source of sustainable competitive advantage.
In other words, while the other components of the SCM seem to be efficient and complementing and supplementing each other, the part of the SCM where the customer interacts has been found to be deficient. Therefore, Amazon can setup its own transportation and actualize superior last mile delivery by creating its own fleet of delivery vehicles and personnel.
Further, this recommendation also entails creation of a unified IT system that can involve all the suppliers and the stakeholders in its SCM and not Amazon alone. This would call for substantial investment as well as a new business model where Amazon does not operate in isolation but instead brings together all the elements and the components of the supply chain under one umbrella.
As it expands its global footprint, it needs a single source of truth (to use the industry jargon) wherein it can have visibility right from procurement to end customer delivery. This would also ensure that its problems with last mile delivery are sorted out and customers as well as suppliers along with the employees are linked together in a real time system.
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