Amazon.com is the largest online retailer worldwide and had eighteen distribution centres in Europe by the end of 2015. It has built an immense infrastructure in recent years to actually deliver on its promises to consumers (stock availability of a hugely wide range, fast delivery, low shipping costs).
Millions of customers as well as millions of suppliers
In doing so, Amazon not only has millions of customers, but also millions of suppliers. To ensure the smooth flow of incoming goods, Amazon has introduced new restrictions that apply to all countries in Europe. Some examples:
- The maximum dimensions of a pallet may be 120x80x180cm (exception Amazon UK: max 120x100x180cm)
- Cartons must weigh no more than 15 kg. If a single shippable unit weighs above 15 kg (see examples outlined in Sections 2.2.9 and 2.2.10), attach warning labels as appropriate on 4 sides of the carton (see Section 3.4 for further information on warning labels).
- The max weight with warning labels is 30kg.
- Do not let cartons overhang the edges of pallets.
- When shipping multiple SKUs on a pallet, physically separate the SKUs so that they are unmistakably easy to differentiate upon receipt.
- Pallets must be centre loaded. So the gravity of the pallet is in the centre as much as possible.
- …
Not following is not delivering
While these restrictions may seem simple, following them closely is necessary. You may only deliver under strict conditions, within an imposed delivery time of 30min. If you fail to meet any of the conditions, your goods will not be accepted, payment will not be made and you will most likely receive a sky-high fine.
Taking into account complicated logistics requirements
The requirements imposed by Amazon complicate the logistics process. Moreover, Amazon is not the only party imposing its own logistics requirements. Even at Bol.com or Zalando, you deliver to a large distribution centre where you are only allowed to deliver on a pre-arranged day (sometimes even time), to a predetermined loading door, on pallets of a certain maximum size, etc.
Manual? Or rather automated?
How can you ensure that your employees do not get lost in the countless requirements and process every order correctly? This can only be done automatically, for example with a stacking tool that incorporates customer-specific requirements directly into the stacking instructions. If you proceed manually, this can lead to not meeting all the requirements:
- Your employee is not aware of all the requirements, which e.g. often happens with temporary workers. One makes an unknowing mistake, but that can earn you fines.
- Your employee is aware, but does not know the restrictions by heart. The look-up work therefore takes up unnecessary time.
- Your employee knows the restrictions by heart, but wasn't aware of the update your supplier implemented.
Johan Faes - Consultancy on packaging
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