CALEDONIA, Mich. — It’s the most wonderful time of the year— but if you’re working for Amazon this is the most busiest time of the year. So what happens after you purchase your items online?
The local Amazon fulfillment center, located in Caledonia, fulfills nearly one million units of products per day, and when we enter the holiday season this number only grows larger.
Matt Moss, General Manager of the Caledonia facility said, "It's a huge volume adjustment for this time of year.”
Moss says they start preparing for the high demand during the summer. The center normally has a staff of nearly 2,500 employees but during the holiday season even more people are brought in
"Here in Grand Rapids we were able to hire over 600 additional associates," said Lexi Cooley Senior Human Resources manager.
So what goes into making sure your Christmas present makes it to your door in time?
There are five steps in getting your package on a delivery truck, "from the time you click purchase on the website, we have to stow the product," said Moss.
Stowing is when a robot, brings the product to you and lights up the item needed, you then scan the item and put it in the appropriate bin.
“And that’s how the system knows that the item is there and is available to be sold," said Moss. "Then they're going to go on this overhead conveyance and go to the other side of the building where we pack."
The totes sent from the stowing department come down from a conveyor belt, and a staff member begins to pack the items in boxes.
Once everything is packed up, a label is made. Each box has a label on it that gets scanned then the system creates a shipping label in seconds. That brings us to the final step for the fulfillment center.
A machine scans the box containing the product and sends it down a slide that leads to a dock door where a truck is.
Moss says the long process is all worth it knowing their facility is making an impact on the community.
“It's an honor to serve the Western Michigan community, "said Moss. “When you look at the packages and the things that we're shipping, you can tell that there's somebody's Christmas gift, there's some story behind every single package. “
One way you can show your appreciation for Amazon drivers is by using the 'Amazon Thank My Driver' promotion.
Just go to Amazon.com and search 'thank my driver', there you can send a thank you note to the employee who successfully delivered your package.
Amazon says the first 2 million thank-you's will also be sent a $5 tip to the driver at no cost to the customer.
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