Amazon’s SCOT — Supply Chain Optimization Technologies
The most amazing application of mathematical optimization in logistics
What is SCOT?
The state of the art in advanced mathematics at the service of the operations management. I like how some important companies implement this scientific development. — Julio Mora Olivares
SCOT is an acronym meaning Supply Chain Optimization Technologies. Probably it is the largest and the most complete application of operational research in the field of logistic.
In summer 2017, I discovered that Amazon was hiring operational researchers in Italy. This intrigued me enough to start some research on the Internet. I found a plentiful source of information on LinkedIn profiles, where people were sharing their working experience, their goals and successes.
I’ve collected all the pieces of information and, with my experience, I was able to reconstruct a whole picture of this project.
Human resources
First things first: people
The team working on SCOT project covers many countries. In my search, I’ve noted places from North America, India, and Europe. This is a quite common characteristic of projects developed in large companies as Amazon.
What really impressed me indeed is to see so many roles involved in the same project. They are:
- Econometricians,
- Statisticians,
- Economists,
- Operational Research Scientists,
- Machine Learning Scientists,
- Software Engineers,
- Product Managers
So, from the management point of view, the project leader has to handle two independents source of complexity: many roles in many places.
Applications
Fantastic combination of Optimization, Computer Languages. and Inventory Management — Deepak Bammi
Have you ever bought something from Amazon? A book, of course. But also other goods as a Kindle reader or a cover for your smartphone.
I did all of this and every time, before the purchase order, I knew a precise forecast of the delivery date. Typically one day for many Prime products.
A so elevated level of service quality can be achieved with a full control of the supply chain. From my research seems that Amazon invested a lot on:
- inventory planning and control;
- last mile logistic network.
Inventory planning and control
Inventory planning involves many algorithms to buy inventory in the right quantities, at the right frequencies, from the right vendors, and assigning to the best warehouse to fulfill customer demand forecast.
The picture above was taken from an Amazon video on YouTube. Probably it gives only a vague idea of the inventory complexity managed behind the button “buy now with 1-click (r)”.
If you want some totals here they are:
Hundreds of millions of items, for hundreds of product lines worth billions of dollars of inventory world-wide.
In a single sentence, the team of inventory planning control of Amazon:
decide and optimize what, when, where, and how much should buy to meet Amazon’s business goals and to make their customers happy.
Last mile logistic network
Another important area where SCOT gives a major improvement is the last mile logistics.
If you think of the entire user experience, the parcel delivery is the only ring of the supply chain out of the control of Amazon. But everybody knows how Amazon is obsessed with customer experience and satisfaction.
This means not only the optimal location of the delivery point to get an appropriate geographic coverage. But also control a complete fleet of people and vehicles physically delivering goods.
Technologies and IT impacts
From the technology point of view, SCOT has many interesting things to say.
Optimization library
SCOT is an optimization library designed and built with the purpose to facilitate the integration, of optimization models, within the Amazon’s infrastructure without any knowledge of optimization.
General purpose optimization engines
SCOT uses well known and powerful optimization engine: CPLEX, XPRESS and GUROBI.
Programming languages
SCOT has some kind of relationship with the following programming languages:
- ruby
- VB
- c#
- java
- python (my favorite)
I don’t know what is the main language used for SCOT. Also, I didn’t find any relationship with compiled languages such as C or C++.
SCOT in a video
If you want, you can enjoy this short video from Amazon explaining what is SCOT.
An example of logistics at Amazon
Have you ever bought something at Amazon? Most probably, the answer is yes. What’s before the delivery? To have an indirect answer to this question, I’ve verified what kind of information is available on an order as a regular customer.
Among the tools to check the journey of the parcel, one of these provides full tracking of the delivery. So, I tried to see what the steps for an order with six days delivery were.
The online order was submitted on the 23rd of November 2022, and the item arrived on the 29th of November 2022. Take a look at the map below. The parcel crossed four different delivery stations: two in France and two in Italy.
Any single step of the delivery was properly scheduled with a decision support system built with an operational research tool.
A real job post for SCOT
Senior Product Manager — Tech, Supply Chain Optimization Technologies, Same Day
DESCRIPTION
We’re seeking a Senior Product Manager-Tech to drive the vision across Supply Chain Optimization Technologies (SCOT) teams, Ops, Retail and FBA to support inventory availability for same day delivery programs. We are a fast-growing and exciting business that delights customers every day with need it now selection delivered in hours.
As a Sr Product Manager-Tech, you will establish the vision and set up the mechanisms with partner organizations to support the execution of instock and inventory availability goals. You are an ambassador of sub-same day program driving insights generation, owning end-to-end product vision and articulating the requirements. You are an effective negotiator, make smart trade-offs without sacrificing quality, and drive appropriate schedules. You are hands-on with modeling/analysis and use data to influence our business strategy and technical priorities.
Successful candidate will have a proven track record of managing complex deep-dives without BIE support, navigating ambiguity and working with Senior Leadership. This means you are not only able to develop and drive high-level strategic initiatives, but can also roll up your sleeves, dig in and get the job done. We are looking for an individual who brings a diverse set of unblocking tools and mechanisms, resulting in an ability to cultivate relationships and earn trust with teams both inside and outside of your overall organization.
This is a highly visible position. You must have the experience and capability to prepare documentation for senior executives and align your roadmap with Amazon’s strategic objectives. Excellent written, verbal communication and data analytical skills are a necessity.
Key job responsibilities
- Leading with vision and change to bring new or evolve existing cutting-edge technologies for Sub-Same day program
- Establish effective and data-driven mechanisms to convey system and process gaps across multiple orgs
- Approach complex business problems, aligning divergent stakeholder teams to a common plan
- Work closely with technical teams to understand root causes of customer pain points and drive the right solutions to exceed customer expectations
- With input from business stakeholders, develop business and product requirements, prioritize needs, and manage milestones and overall roadmap. Create buy-in for the product vision both internally and with key external partners
A day in the life
If you are not sure that every qualification on the list above describes you exactly, we’d still love to hear from you! At Amazon, we value people with unique backgrounds, experiences, and skillsets. If you’re passionate about this role and want to make an impact on a global scale, please apply!
Amazon offers a full range of benefits that support you and eligible family members, including domestic partners and their children. Benefits can vary by location, the number of regularly scheduled hours you work, length of employment, and job status such as seasonal or temporary employment. The benefits that generally apply to regular, full-time employees include:
1. Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
2. Maternity and Parental Leave Options
3. Paid Time Off (PTO)
4. 401(k) Plan
Learn more about our benefits here:
https://amazon.jobs/en/internal/benefits/us-benefits-and-stock
We are open to hiring candidates to work out of one of the following locations:
Austin, TX, USA | Bellevue, WA, USA | New York, NY, USA
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 5+ years of product or program management, product marketing, business development or technology experience
- Bachelor’s degree
- Experience with feature delivery and tradeoffs of a product
- Experience owning/driving roadmap strategy and definition
- Experience with end to end product delivery
- Experience contributing to engineering discussions around technology decisions and strategy related to a product
- Experience writing SQL queries and managing complex deep-dives
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Ability to communicate complex technical issues simply and convincingly to a wide range of audiences
Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://www.amazon.jobs/en/disability/us.
Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $121,000/year in our lowest geographic market up to $235,200/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Amazon is a total compensation company. Dependent on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. For more information, please visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits. Applicants should apply via our internal or external career site.
Disclaimer
All the information reported in this document are gained from the internet, especially from profiles published on LinkedIn. I don’t work for Amazon, so this report collects my suppositions, suggested by my own experience in optimization technologies.
