Reference no: EM133391230

Amazon Fulfillment Center Process

Amazon fulfillment centers are complex operations in vast spaces. Our prep, labeling, and packing requirements are designed for our fulfillment center associates to handle your units as efficiently as possible. This allows us to process millions of orders daily and helps Amazon provide the best experience for our customers. Before you ship your products to amazon fulfillment centers, it is essential to ensure they are packaged properly and our e-commerce ready, so they can be quickly received and available for sale. Each unit that arrives at our fulfillment center that does not meet our requirements delays the receipt of your inventory and increases the risk that a unit could be lost, damaged, or incorrectly received. When your shipment arrives, Amazon Associates scans the shipping label to ensure each has a shipment ID in the system and that the shipment is at the proper fulfillment center. Multiple boxes must not be taped or banded together. To avoid any confusion, your shipping boxes should not have any other scannable barcodes except the shipping label. Boxes that do not match our size requirements require special handling, which delays the receiving process. The next step in the inbound process is opening the shipping box. If the shipping label is placed over the seam of the box, it can be easily damaged in transit, become unreadable for carrier and Amazon systems or be destroyed as the Amazon associate opens the box. Place shipping labels on flat surfaces to ensure that the label remains scannable throughout the inbound process. An un-scannable shipment label can cause delays in receiving your units. The best packing materials or dunnage to use are our foam, air pillows, or full sheets of paper. Packing peanuts and shredded paper slow down the receiving process. For this reason, we do not allow loose packaging materials to be used in inbound shipments. Amazon also verifies that individual units in the shipping boxes have scannable barcodes. Each unit should only have one scannable barcode. If a unit does not have a scannable barcode or has multiple scannable barcodes, it will be sidelined for proper identification by an Amazon problem solver. Case-packed units must only have barcodes on the individual units and not on the outer carton. Barcodes on the outer carton could lead to multiple items being received as one unit. The associate evaluates if the units need additional prep to ensure that they won't become damaged during storage and shipment to the customer. If prep is required but was not performed prior to being received at the fulfillment center, the units are sidelined for special handling. Also, items should not have any loose packaging. Products that require additional prep upon arrival at the fulfillment center are delayed from being placed into inventory. Depending on the number of units requiring prep, this delay could be two hours or two days. Units that don't require additional prep are sent to be received. During the receiving process, the associate performs a 6-sided check of each unit to ensure the unit is not damaged. Please ensure each unit is packaged properly to avoid being damaged in transit. Also, the associate performs a title verification. If the title and product do not match, the unit is sent to an Amazon problem-solver. The unit is now received. The unit is routed to be stowed. If there were problems in any part of the check-in or received process, units would be directed to the problem-solving area. Units that must be sidelined and evaluated by a problem solver take longer to receive. Problem-solving is a very detailed process so time is taken to ensure each problem is resolved properly. Once the problem has been solved, the units are received and placed in a tote. Units that have been successfully received, even those that required Amazon to perform special prep or problem-solving, now take a trip on the conveyor. These units are sent to be stored in inventory. Every unit is scanned into a location so that Amazon knows its exact location. Now when a customer orders your product, it can be quickly picked, packed, and shipped to them without delay.

1. Now that you are familiar with the eight forms of waste, Mura and Muri in Lean, think of the above process and identify specific examples of waste.

Describe the process steps which you consider as waste/non-value added activity. Identify each step to a type of Waste (e.g., defect, Extra processing, Mura, Muri etc.). Try to identify at least five such non-value-added activities.

2. What is the constraint of the process? Please explain your reasoning.

3. Where do we have opportunity to standardize the process? Explain your steps.