PARALLEL EQUATIONS


CUSTOMER-CENTRIC In line with its goal “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company,” Amazon reinvests con- tinually in its operations to keep offerings fresh and customer-focused. Here Wilke, right, meets with leaders of Amazon Prime, a premium membership program. (Photo courtesy of Amazon)


get quite Christmas-y with their attire. It’s very motivating to see orders that you know are going to end up as wrapped presents under a tree. It’s emotional and powerful for people.


All Amazonians are deeply passionate about delivering a great customer experi- ence. At Christmas, that means that the right product goes to the right address on time in a great condition. As you watch these orders go by, you know you’re basi- cally serving as an elf in some way to help families all over the country. And that feels pretty good.


Q. In terms of product logistics, does the handling of books differ from what Amazon does with flat-screen TVs, or groceries or automotive supplies?


A. Yes, different product attributes require different logistics solutions. Some key attributes


include: size and


weight (can the item be handled by automated sorting equipment?), fragility (clothing items require different han- dling from most packaged automotive


118 Army AL&T Magazine


supplies, and some items, like food, are very temperature-sensitive), sales veloc- ity (lower-velocity items may be located in fewer fulfillment centers) and cost (we might not store $5,000 watches right next to $20 books.)


Q. A major area of study for the Army logistics community, as it prepares to draw down from Afghanistan, competencies. Does Amazon


is core employ


logisticians per se, besides you? If so, what skills is the company looking for?


A. I am certainly honored to be consid- ered a “logistician,” though that is not my formal background. I have an undergrad in


chemical engineering from Princ-


eton and graduate degrees, and an M.S. Chem E and MBA from MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations program. I started my career writing software at Accenture. I suspect I think about logistics sys- tems as networks of nodes and arcs, or pipes, valves and tanks, because of my chemical engineering background. What matters is the ability to think analytically about such problems, using the math


Q. What kinds of data does Amazon col- lect on its supply chain, e.g., safety stats, and how do these data reflect how Ama- zon likes to operate?


A. We start every operations meet- ing with a safety tip. Every operations metrics deck starts with our safety per- formance. In fact, it is safer to work in an Amazon fulfillment center than in a


of optimization, process control and as much computer science and machine learning as possible.


Amazon does employ logisticians—lots of


them. Some have backgrounds like


mine, where they’ve made a switch from a different technical field to this one. Many employees


in this area are com-


puter scientists or software development engineers encoding our algorithms in software. We’ve found that individuals with a military background do incred- ibly well in roles all over our operations’ organization. Tey have the right bias for action and comfort with rapidly chang- ing environments.


October–December 2013


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