The United States Government has tried to mitigate the negative consequences with measures but, for the moment, they have been insufficient because the country’s main ports of entry, through which merchandise is distributed, continue to be overwhelmed.
A few weeks ago, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, Gene Seroka, admitted that “demand remains strong” despite the increase in product prices due to inflation. “While US consumers have become more price conscious, overall demand remains strong,” Seroka said.
The causes of the crisis in the supply chain
It all started when the production of certain items was interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic and the confinement decreed by the authorities. This had direct consequences in transportation since those products stopped being distributed.
When the restrictive measures were eased, the population began to consume, but the supply was much greater than the demand, the producers could not cope and there were not enough truckers willing to work in those working conditions.
In recent times, the lack of formula milk for babies has worsened not only because of production problems, but also because some productions had to be stopped because contaminated powders were found. This situation led the White House to intervene to address this problem, which had become a real national crisis.
Amazon and its solution to distribution problems
Those problems with distribution have been seen at all levels. Also on Amazon, the world’s largest online store based in Seattle, Washington. However, according to company sources told the voice of americathe company quickly adapted to the situation.
Despite the fact that a large part of the operations are carried out through robots, the company clarifies that the most essential work is done with flesh and blood workers, for which they were forced to hire thousands of people with the aim of minimize the impact of this situation.
“We have hundreds of robots that move merchandise from one station to another, but we also have thousands of employees who are the ones who make sure that those packages enter and leave this building to reach the final customer,” said Joseph Fajardo, head of operations of the Amazon distribution center in Miami, whose facilities are the largest in the world.
Increase in hiring during the pandemic
Since 2019 -just before the pandemic- until now, more than 1,200 additional workers have been employed in this place alone, which, in some way, reflects how companies of this type have had to face high demand and thus supply the Business necessities.
“What the robots do here is make the work of the employees easier,” insists Fajardo, while being convinced by the state-of-the-art facilities that have been built throughout the country to speed up shipments thanks to the robots.
“(The robots) limit the movement of workers. In a traditional warehouse, the worker would have to go get the merchandise, but in an Amazon warehouse theft brings the merchandise to you so you don’t have to go get it,” he recounts.
deliveries guaranteed
On July 12 and 13, the Seattle company celebrates “Prime Day”, which is a kind of annual sale with discounted prices through the internet. Company sources acknowledge that these days are comparable to those of Black Friday or the end of the year holidays, when millions of purchases are made through its platform.
Amazon ensures that thanks to the increase in its workforce around the world, shipments are guaranteed within the deadlines that are determined.
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