What is Fulfillment Center? Fulfillment Center Review, Features

Fulfillment Center, abbreviated as " FC " , is Amazon's operation center, which is mainly responsible for manufacturer receipt, warehousing, inventory management, order delivery, allocation and delivery, customer returns, returns to the factory, product quality and safety, etc.

Management Process

1. Order

When Amazon's purchasing staff places an order, the supplier can make a delivery appointment through Amazon's system. The system will automatically calculate the distance between the supplier and Amazon's operating network and match the supplier's nearest warehouse. The supplier will deliver the goods to Amazon's warehouse dock, and the latter will receive the goods within 24 hours. Amazon knows the status of the goods clearly from the moment the order is placed.

2. Receiving goods

The staff uses a scanner to open the box and scan the barcode of the goods. The goods enter the Amazon system but cannot be displayed online yet.

3. Listing

Each item will be randomly placed on the shelf by the employees, it may be a book and a few toys. Saving space to the greatest extent is the rule of Amazon warehouse. Each item and the shelf it is stored on are recorded in the system by the scanner gun, and the items can be sold online after being put on the shelf.

4. Order sorting

After each employee scans the order with a handheld device, the system will automatically calculate where the goods are located near the employee to save travel time.

5. Product orders

5.1 Single item order

After the staff picks up the orders for individual items and fills up the picking cart, they enter the parcel process line. The system recommends suitable parcel boxes based on the weight and size of the goods. The staff then labels the packages with order information and places the goods on the conveyor belt nearby.

5.2 Multiple Item Orders

When the picking cart is pushed to the flow line of multiple goods, the staff will load each item on a cart with multiple grids according to the scanned order. Each grid is an order, which is marked and recorded in the system. The staff only needs to put the goods into the grid according to the system prompts.

The grid cart will be pushed to the next process, and the staff will take out the goods from each grid, and the system will scan the barcode. The overall specifications of each order will be determined, and the corresponding parcel box will be recommended. The staff will pack and put it on the conveyor belt.

6. Screening

Amazon's system will calculate the weight of the packaged package based on the number of items in each order. If a package is lighter or heavier than the weight calculated by the system, the system will remove the package from the conveyor belt.

7. Packages automatically rejected by the system

8. Manually re-inspect problematic packages

9. Transportation

Packages in good condition will be sorted into different areas and placed on conveyor belts in the express delivery area according to the different logistics information on the order, waiting to be taken away by the express company's trucks and delivered to different customers.

Featured Management System

1. Random listing

All the goods seem to be "placed randomly", and the picking follows the principle of "people move, goods do not move". The staff responsible for putting the goods on the shelves will "place them randomly" and scan them into the system based on the walking route and whether there is space on the shelf. The benefits of this are - shortening the picking distance, improving picking efficiency, and making more effective use of space.

2. Big Data Systems

It can calculate the shortest picking path based on the location of random records and the goods required by the order. The system will assign several orders to one employee and optimize the best path. The employee can even operate paperless. After picking and scanning each item, the handheld terminal will automatically tell him the next shelf to go to.

When picking goods, the system will divide the orders into two categories, one is a single item order, and the other is a multiple item order, which will be packaged by two different assembly lines. The advantage of this is that it saves more time.

3. Fast delivery system

After the picker fills the picking cart according to the order given by the system and the calculated route, it will be sent to the packaging line. After the employee on the packaging table scans the goods, the system will automatically select the appropriate packaging box according to the size and weight of the goods when they are entered. The employee will pack, label and affix the order information, and then put the goods on the rolling conveyor belt on the side.