Based on what I see with their delivery vehicles in my area; Amazon doesn’t have the first darn clue about true supply chain. Generally speaking; supply chain practitioners try to operate in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible. I’d hold UPS up as the model for supply chain especially in creation and management of their pickup and delivery routes.
Amazon, on the other hand, appears to have a delivery model that is the antithesis of efficiency. There are days I’ll see as many as half a dozen different Amazon delivery vehicles in our neighborhood throughout the day. I think about the only thing saving Amazon’s screwed up delivery process at this point is their use of contractors and sub-contractors.
It appears to me that Amazon is willing to absorb higher distribution costs right now in anticipation of drone and self-driving vehicle deliveries down the road. And from my perspective after a career in industrial logistics and supply chain; neither will be the panacea some believe they will be.
Curt
