Amazon.com, Inc. and Their Use of Six Sigma

             The concept of Six Sigma, or Lean Production was developed as a way to cut costs in business manufacturing processes. However its use is not exclusive to the sphere of goods manufacturing, as the online retailer and distribution company Amazon.com, one of the world's largest online retailers has also implemented the Six Sigma way of business into its strategy.
             Amazon.com, Inc. is not a manufacturing company, however their use of Six Sigma (Lean Production) has been shown to very useful even to a non-manufacturing business. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, left his Wall Street job in 1994 to create what would be a place where "customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online." When Amazon first started, the company only offered books and operated out of a garage. Since there was no warehouse Bezos was only able to maintain a stock of about 2,000 books. When a customer would order on Amazon.com, their order would automatically be sent to a wholesaler, who would send it to Bezos, who in turn would ship it to the customer. Since then, Amazon has progressed on to offering one day shipping, an associates' program, videos, music, Amazon Auction, toys, and clothing. Amazon.com now offers every item you could buy in a physical retail store, albeit with more options, lower prices and the ability to shop from home.
             Henry Ford developed the idea of "continuous flow" on his company's assembly lines, which resulted in less waste in production. Other manufacturers noticed flaws in Ford's process, corrected them and adopted modified variants. Saiichi Ohno developed Toyota's production System which used "Just in Time" (JIT) principles in their manufacturing process. JIT allows manufacturers to reduce waste by using the "pull" method that Ford's system lacked. The pull method is influenced by customer demand, which causes only what the customers want to be produced, so there is not a lot of wa
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Amazon.com, Inc. and Their Use of Six Sigma. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:34, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/204510.html