Whether it’s a last-minute Valentine’s day gift or grocery shopping on Monday eve, Amazon always has your back covered. But, have you ever wondered how this e-commerce giant pulls off such mammoth task, such as Prime Now 2-hour delivery, just like that?
Amazon India has 170 million products on its website. But if you think these millions of different items are meticulously filed in easy-to-find locations, you are mistaken.
When an order is placed, the nearest Amazon facility’s server receives the order request. Amazon managers confirm the order, and an appointed Sorter tracks down the product among the randomly sorted aisles and sends it for packaging and quality check. Once the quality check is done, an associate puts the package back on the same conveyer belt from where it is sorted as per standard or express delivery request. In the last stage, the package is clubbed and stocked with other products at the dock area to be loaded into the delivery trucks.
The rise of the logistics industry
Now, you must be wondering, where do all these super quick and precise activities take place?
Well, its usually a Fulfillment Centre in a modern integrated logistics park. Modern Fulfillment Centres include a Box facility (i.e. warehouse) along with packaging facility, inventory management, transportation, returns and other activities. However, unlike the previous brick-n-mortar warehouses, they come with state-of-the-art PEB sheets and flooring that reflects international standards of quality. Moreover, they are abnormally large – often measuring to about 450000 sqft.
With India’s e-commerce market growing from strength to strength, these Fulfillment Centres have drawn interest both from real-estate developers and investors.
The creation of such Fulfillment Centres has eased the entry of global brands entering India and 3PL player. Such entrants look forward to a Plug-n-play facility where they can start operations within a year without being bogged down by tedious formalities like land acquisition, tenders, government approvals, etc. For such players, modern Fulfillment Centres within integrated multimodal logistics parks are a convenient option to start operations at a low cost.
Future calling!
Interestingly, these Fulfillment Centres and global warehousing come at a very propitious time. According to a recent report by CBRE, “The Indian market for warehouse automation is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10-12 percent to touch $3.49 billion by 2020.”
All of this translates into one simple result: your package reaches you at lightning speed. So, next time when you are shopping online or placing an order, remember there is a whole ecosystem working towards the fulfilment of that order.
