Chaotic
storage is like organized confusion.
It’s an organic shelving
system without permanent areas or sections.
That means there
is no area just for books, or a place just for televisions
(like you
might expect in a retail store layout).
The product’s characteristics
and attributes are irrelevant.
What’s important is the unique
barcode associated with every product that enters
the
warehouse.
Every
single shelf space inside an Amazon warehouse has a barcode.
And
every incoming product that requires storage is assigned
a
specific barcode that matches the shelf space in which it will be
stored.
This allows free space to be filled quickly and
efficiently.
At the heart of the operation is a sophisticated database that tracks and monitors every single product that enters/leaves the warehouse and keeps a tally on every single shelf space and whether it’s empty or contains a product.
At the heart of the operation is a sophisticated database that tracks and monitors every single product that enters/leaves the warehouse and keeps a tally on every single shelf space and whether it’s empty or contains a product.
There
are several key advantages to the chaotic storage system.
First is
flexibility. With chaotic storage, freed-up space
can be refilled
immediately.
Second is simplicity.
New employees don’t need to
learn where types of products are located.
They simply need
to find the storage shelf within the warehouse.
You don’t need to
know what the product is, just where it is.
Lastly is optimization.
Amazon must handle millions and millions of orders.
That means that at any
given moment there is a long list of products that
need
to be ‘picked’ from the shelves and prepared for shipment.
Since there is a database that knows every product required for shipment and the location of each product inside the warehouse,
Since there is a database that knows every product required for shipment and the location of each product inside the warehouse,
an
optimized route can be provided to employees responsible for
fulfilment.
Since
Amazon deals with such a wide variety of products there are a few
exceptions to the rule. Really fast-moving articles do
not
adhere to the same storage system since they enter and leave the
warehouse so quickly. Really bulky and heavy products
still
require separate storage areas and perishable goods are not ideal for
obvious reasons.
In this storage system a wide variety of products can be found located next to each other.
A necklace could be located beside a DVD
and underneath a set of power tools.
This arbitrary placement can
even help with accuracy as it makes mix-ups less likely
when
picking orders for shipment.
Overall it’s a fascinating system that at its core is powered by a complex database
Overall it’s a fascinating system that at its core is powered by a complex database
yet run by a
simple philosophy.
It’s Chaotic Storage.
There’s no better way to put it .