How Does Amazon Inventory Management Work?
You’re on your computer or mobile device searching for that pair of shoes you’ve been wanting or that new book that was released by your favorite author. Of course, you find yourself on Amazon.com. With the most competitive pricing in the industry, the convenience of your credit card information already stored, and the luxury of having the item arrive at your doorstep just 48 hours after clicking that button, you order it.
So, the question is, what happens in the time from when you press that yellow button and the UPS man dropping off that “Amazon Prime” box consumers have come to love? How does Amazon.com turbo charge this process to the point that you can click, order, and have your item delivered within 48 hours?
Contrary to common belief, tens of thousands of employees are not working in Amazon’s FBA warehouses around the clock to pick, pack and ship your items.
So, what’s the real secret behind the empire’s inventory & shipping logistics solution? Robots.
The Amazon Robotics department has employed over 30,000 robots to manage the $88 billion dollars worth of Amazon inventory it sells annually.
Purchased in 2012 for $775 million dollars, over 30,000 Kiva Systems robots maneuver around Amazon’s warehouses tactfully picking specific items as consumers order them.
Complex software combined with QR codes and the robots that line the floors of Amazon’s warehouses has come together to truly revolutionize the meaning of the words “inventory management” in the year 2020 and in the future.