To a smaller merchant looking to sell its products over the internet, Amazon.com, with its massive network of warehouses and fulfillment resources, might seem like an irresistible partner. At what point, though, does Amazon become the competition?
To a smaller merchant looking to sell its products over the internet, Amazon.com, with its massive network of warehouses and fulfillment resources, might seem like an irresistible partner. At what point, though, does Amazon become the competition?
Challenge: A global 3PL recently began providing fulfillment services for large, heavy components of cellphone tower parts. Due to size, material handlers often had to wait for forklift drivers to move components to static computer and printer desks in order to process orders. Workers also had to walk back and forth from staging areas to desks to enter data and print labels. Employee overtime grew in order to handle backlog, and workers reported stress and fatigue.
Investor interest in building and acquiring warehouses in the age of Amazon.com Inc. is overheating, and there might be more distribution centers created than there will be tenants to fill them, billionaire Sam Zell said.