MBA students go behind the scenes at Amazon

Amazon hosted 20 MBAs from Olin for a peek into the tech giant’s logistical prowess on September 23. It was a pleasant morning as the spirited MBAs from Olin departed from the Knight Center for a 270-mile journey to SDF8, one of Amazon’s largest fulfillment centers, located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The tour was organized by Olin’s Supply Chain and Operations Association (SCOPA), in collaboration with the Weston Career Center and Amazon recruiting.

As the bus rolled into Amazon’s parking lot, the driver exclaimed, “This is the biggest building I have ever seen!” The facility was an imposing structure, five stories high and occupying an area equivalent to 21 football fields. The excitement in the bus was palpable as we prepared to witness the magic that happens after people across the globe hit the “Place your order” button on the Amazon website.

An Amazon fulfillment center.

An Amazon fulfillment center.

Our group was welcomed with a one-hour guided tour of the fulfillment center. The tour consisted of a walk-through of the different functional areas within the fulfillment center, while the site was limbering up for the upcoming peak holiday season.

It was an amazing site to witness how millions of orders were being tracked so efficiently with man and machine working like clockwork to deliver the best value to the customer.

The highlight of the trip was the information session led by the Director of the facility, Mr. Sunender Mann. The students got an excellent perspective from the site’s leadership team on what it’s like to lead and inspire people every day and while serving millions of customers across the globe.

The students were thoroughly impressed with what they saw. They couldn’t hold back their excitement when they were asked by other students back at Olin about the experience.

Students walked away eager to come back to Amazon as employees and add value to lives of millions of customers using the skills they will acquire through the MBA program at Olin.

What students were saying:

“Visiting Amazon’s fulfillment center was an amazing experience. I had expected the facility to be modern and futuristic but once we got there, the scale of SDF8 really blew me away. On our guided tour we got a first-hand view of the automated delivery system that speeds packages around the building’s packaging machines that allows Amazon to efficiently handle the huge volume of goods that pass through the building every day. Meeting SDF8’s friendly management team also provided us with key insights into the working of the fulfillment center.”

– Rohan Kamalia, MBA ’18

“I was impressed by how well-coordinated such a massive facility could be–everything from low-tech to ultra-high-tech solutions were used to maximize the efficiency of the process. The managers with whom we met were very generous with their time, sharing with us their thoughts about being leaders of such a large and well-oiled operation. My biggest takeaway from the meeting was how they stressed building strong relationships with their teams as a necessity for achieving such high performance.”

– Jeffrey Lantz, MBA ’18

“It was truly a great opportunity to learn about Amazon. Through the Q&A session I came to know more about the Pathways program. Furthermore, its individual inventory management process was so impressive. I worked on several supply chain management projects for global manufacturers, but I haven’t seen such an innovative SCM process as the one Amazon has.”

Jinsoo Chang, MBA ’18

Guest Blogger: Abhishek Sahni, MBA ’17

In Student Life, Teaching & Learning
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