This video provides a detailed look at Amazon's complex logistics and delivery system. It explains that Amazon's fulfillment system is more intricate than most other logistics companies, with various categories of packages and different methods of delivery. It mentions the use of robots in fulfillment centers for smaller items and how Amazon uses predictive modeling to place products strategically. The video also discusses Amazon Air's role in transporting packages efficiently and how Amazon collaborates with the USPS for last-mile delivery in rural areas. The video emphasizes that Amazon's logistics and delivery network are key to its success and competitiveness in the market.
1. Amazon's fulfillment system is more complicated and convoluted than that of almost any logistics company. [Source: Document 1](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
2. Amazon's fulfillment centers are split into three categories: small sortable, large sortable, and large non-sortable. [Source: Document 1](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
3. The fulfillment process for larger items is just tougher to automate cheaply, so Amazon runs a far more manual and distinct fulfillment system for larger items. [Source: Document 1](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
4. Amazon uses predictive modeling to try to put items closest to those who are likely to buy them. [Source: Document 1](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
5. Amazon's Prime brand promises two-day delivery, meaning they don’t have to worry about being able to get a package from Denver to Miami overnight. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
6. Amazon Air started in 2015 with its lease of about 20 aircraft from Air Transport International and has since grown to almost 70 aircraft—all leased from other airlines. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
7. Amazon's flights to these airports typically land by 5:00 pm, meaning there’s a whole twelve hours before packages have to be at the local delivery center for the final destination. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
8. Amazon Air has flights from all these airports to Lakeland, meaning that, while a package from Denver would have to route via Cincinnati, one from Los Angeles or Dallas or Chicago could fly direct. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
9. Amazon Air’s nonstop flights only require loading and unloading once, which reduces cost, and can fly packages direct, which also reduces cost. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
10. For those that are to be delivered locally, in the Denver area, they’ll be driven to one of four delivery stations for Denver. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
11. In less populous areas, like the mountains of Colorado, it just doesn’t make sense for Amazon to operate their own last-mile delivery. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
12. Therefore, they need alternatives for smaller cities, towns, and rural areas, and that alternative is more often than not the USPS. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
13. Everything that can’t be cheaply delivered by Amazon or the USPS, typically because they’re destined for low-density areas where you couldn’t even fill a truck to send to the local post office, or because of capacity or speed reasons, is sent through UPS. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
14. It’s a very simple process from a consumer perspective, but the behind the scenes is incredibly complex. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
15. The core of Amazon, their competitive advantage, is now logistics, to the point where many experts believe that the company will start offering delivery as a service to other companies in the coming years. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
16. Amazon has managed to build a 21st-century logistics network using 21st-century techniques and technologies. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
17. Amazon’s rise proves more than anything is that, like it or not, online is the new main street. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)
18. Therefore, just as you’d be concerned with what your store-front looks like on main street, you should be concerned about how your web presence looks. [Source: Document 2](https://www.stackoverflow.com)