Inside Amazon’s fulfilment center in Gurugram: Safety first and foremost

00:46:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKxRULdG7ws

概要

TLDRThe video showcases a detailed discussion with Abhinab Singh, Vice President of Operations at Amazon India, about the operations of an Amazon fulfillment center. It emphasizes the importance of safety training for employees, the commitment to environmentally friendly packaging, and the integration of technology in logistics to enhance efficiency. The fulfillment center is designed to provide fast and reliable service while ensuring the comfort and safety of employees. The conversation also highlights Amazon's efforts in promoting inclusivity, community engagement, and environmental sustainability through various initiatives.

収穫

  • 👷‍♂️ Safety training is crucial for new employees.
  • 📦 All outbound packages are plastic-free.
  • 🤖 Technology optimizes packaging and delivery processes.
  • 🌱 Amazon focuses on environmentally friendly practices.
  • 👩‍💼 Inclusivity is a priority in hiring.
  • 🏢 The fulfillment center is temperature-controlled for employee comfort.
  • 🚚 Delivery associates are trained for safe practices.
  • 🌍 Community initiatives include environmental restoration projects.
  • 👩‍👧‍👦 Gender ratio aims for equal representation.
  • 🔧 Real-time systems enhance delivery efficiency.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video begins with an introduction to the Amazon fulfillment center, highlighting the diverse workforce from nearby villages and states. Safety induction training is emphasized for new employees, focusing on job safety and packaging concerns, particularly regarding non-recyclable plastics.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker discusses Amazon's commitment to plastic-free packaging in fulfillment centers, mentioning innovations like paper tape and tertiary containers to minimize packaging needs. The fulfillment center is described as a hub for logistics operations, with a focus on efficient order processing.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The conversation shifts to the order placement process, explaining how real-time systems allocate inventory from the nearest fulfillment center to the customer. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about their first Amazon purchase, illustrating the ease of the ordering process.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The video details the packing process, where machine learning algorithms determine optimal box sizes for shipments. The speaker explains the importance of real-time calculations for transportation methods to ensure timely delivery to customers.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The fulfillment center's size and capacity are highlighted, with a focus on local order fulfillment to provide fast service. The speaker emphasizes the use of technology to enhance both customer and associate experiences, including automated systems for inventory management and order picking.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Safety is prioritized in operations, with a commitment to maintaining a reliable system for fast delivery. The speaker discusses the balance between speed and reliability, emphasizing the importance of transparent communication with customers during unforeseen circumstances.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    The video addresses manual operations in the fulfillment center, particularly in vendor returns. The speaker explains the training process for new employees, focusing on safety and operational efficiency, while also addressing the cultural challenges of safety awareness in India.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    The conversation touches on gender inclusivity in the workforce, with a focus on maintaining a balanced gender ratio among associates and managers. The speaker highlights the importance of creating an inclusive work environment that reflects the customer base.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:46:25

    The video concludes with a discussion on Amazon's commitment to environmental sustainability, including initiatives for water conservation and community engagement. The speaker expresses optimism about the future of e-commerce in India and the company's role in creating positive impacts.

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ビデオQ&A

  • What is the focus of safety training for employees?

    Safety training is prioritized for new employees, ensuring they understand how to perform their jobs safely.

  • How does Amazon address packaging concerns?

    Amazon has eliminated plastic from outbound packages and uses paper tape and other eco-friendly materials.

  • What technology is used in the fulfillment process?

    Amazon employs machine learning algorithms to optimize packaging sizes and delivery routes.

  • How does Amazon ensure employee comfort in the fulfillment center?

    The facility is temperature-controlled, and safety protocols are in place to monitor working conditions.

  • What is the role of delivery associates?

    Delivery associates are trained to ensure safe delivery practices and are equipped with technology to assist them.

  • How does Amazon support inclusivity in hiring?

    Amazon partners with organizations to train and employ individuals with disabilities.

  • What community initiatives does Amazon engage in?

    Amazon is involved in projects like mangrove restoration and lake regeneration to improve environmental conditions.

  • How does Amazon handle customer delivery expectations?

    Amazon uses real-time systems to allocate orders to the nearest fulfillment center for efficient delivery.

  • What is the gender ratio among employees at Amazon fulfillment centers?

    Amazon aims for a gender ratio that reflects its customer base, with nearly half of employees being women.

  • How does Amazon ensure safety for delivery associates?

    Delivery associates undergo vehicle checks and are required to wear helmets while on the road.

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オートスクロール:
  • 00:00:13
    So we have uh people in this building in
  • 00:00:15
    particular coming from uh nearby
  • 00:00:18
    villages within 15 kilometers and also
  • 00:00:22
    from other states like West Bengal,
  • 00:00:23
    Punjab and other places. For us it
  • 00:00:26
    starts with a safety induction.
  • 00:00:30
    Whenever they come into the building for
  • 00:00:32
    the first time, we spend a lot of time
  • 00:00:34
    training them on how they can do their
  • 00:00:35
    job
  • 00:00:39
    safely. One part of that is also
  • 00:00:42
    packaging, right? So I find
  • 00:00:44
    international media also uh
  • 00:00:47
    environmental activists also there's a
  • 00:00:49
    concern about packaging, right?
  • 00:00:53
    You have a point of view? Certainly. I
  • 00:00:56
    think from a packaging perspective, one
  • 00:00:57
    of the things and the plastics
  • 00:00:59
    absolutely non nonrecyclables. So from a
  • 00:01:02
    packaging perspective, we've been
  • 00:01:04
    focusing on this area for many many
  • 00:01:06
    years. In fact, in this fulfillment
  • 00:01:08
    center or any fulfillment center of
  • 00:01:10
    Amazon across the country, all outbound
  • 00:01:14
    packages are completely plastic free.
  • 00:01:16
    We've actually worked on inventions like
  • 00:01:18
    paper tape and making sure that we are
  • 00:01:21
    using tertiary containers so that we
  • 00:01:23
    don't have any need for packaging in
  • 00:01:26
    most cases. So a large percentage of our
  • 00:01:28
    shipments actually go without packaging.
  • 00:01:52
    manager.
  • 00:01:58
    Just in case you wonder where I am in
  • 00:02:00
    this interesting attire and and this in
  • 00:02:04
    this unusual place, let me tell you this
  • 00:02:07
    is this is the kind of place from which
  • 00:02:09
    you you might get your next package from
  • 00:02:12
    Amazon from. This is the Amazon
  • 00:02:14
    fulfillment center deep inside southern
  • 00:02:17
    Hana. Deep inside Southern Hana. And
  • 00:02:20
    this is where thousands of people work
  • 00:02:23
    and a wonderful very very remarkable
  • 00:02:27
    logistics operation takes place. So in
  • 00:02:30
    case you wonder what happens how that
  • 00:02:33
    package gets through to you so soon
  • 00:02:35
    after you
  • 00:02:37
    order. I will I might have some answers
  • 00:02:40
    for you or or I will have somebody who
  • 00:02:42
    might have some answers for you. That is
  • 00:02:45
    Abhinab Singh who's vice president
  • 00:02:47
    operations at Amazon India. Abina,
  • 00:02:51
    welcome finding the time and this is
  • 00:02:52
    this is a series we've started now
  • 00:02:54
    series of conversations under our value
  • 00:02:56
    ad series where look at people like you
  • 00:02:59
    doing really interesting stuff and also
  • 00:03:01
    companies doing really interesting
  • 00:03:03
    stuff. Oh, thank you so much for making
  • 00:03:05
    the time. We'd love to take you around
  • 00:03:06
    the building.
  • 00:03:12
    Abina uh when someone like me who's tech
  • 00:03:15
    challenged always been tech challenged
  • 00:03:17
    I'm the pre Google generation. What
  • 00:03:19
    happens when I place an order with you?
  • 00:03:22
    I place an order for an ice cream. Ice
  • 00:03:25
    cream. So the ice cream will probably
  • 00:03:27
    not come from here. Yeah. But when you
  • 00:03:29
    place an order for the salon tea that
  • 00:03:31
    you really like, anything. Um because
  • 00:03:34
    you stay opposite. My first Amazon
  • 00:03:36
    purchase, my first e-commerce purchase
  • 00:03:39
    of any kind was an was a LCD TV from
  • 00:03:44
    Amazon. That's because our favorite cat.
  • 00:03:46
    We used to love the cat playing with the
  • 00:03:48
    TV until we realized she scratched the
  • 00:03:50
    screen and killed it. Yeah. So that's
  • 00:03:52
    when I downloaded the Amazon app and
  • 00:03:55
    made my first order. I'm really happy
  • 00:03:57
    you did that and I hope you're a Prime
  • 00:03:59
    customer now. So So how how does how
  • 00:04:02
    does something like that get delivered
  • 00:04:04
    to you? So as soon as you click buy, we
  • 00:04:07
    have realtime systems which determine
  • 00:04:09
    the closest point that the inventory is
  • 00:04:11
    located close to your house and within
  • 00:04:14
    milliseconds the right warehouse or
  • 00:04:16
    fulfillment center like we call it is
  • 00:04:19
    decided and there is where the order
  • 00:04:21
    drops. When I say order drop what that
  • 00:04:24
    means is in the virtual world in the
  • 00:04:26
    technology world the order is allocated
  • 00:04:28
    to this building. From there it will get
  • 00:04:32
    allocated to a person who's walking with
  • 00:04:34
    a handheld who's the closest to that
  • 00:04:36
    inventory. When you walk to the
  • 00:04:37
    inventory shelves you'll see that the
  • 00:04:39
    person closest to the inventory at that
  • 00:04:41
    point in time will get allocated that
  • 00:04:44
    order and then they'll pick it. They
  • 00:04:46
    will check it from six sides to make
  • 00:04:48
    sure that the order is in good shape and
  • 00:04:50
    everything is fine with the inventory.
  • 00:04:52
    They will then put it on a conveyor.
  • 00:04:55
    From there it'll go to a pack station.
  • 00:04:58
    On the pack station there is a machine
  • 00:05:00
    learning algorithm which determines the
  • 00:05:03
    right box size so that you get the
  • 00:05:05
    smallest possible box for the thing that
  • 00:05:08
    you've ordered. Think about it millions
  • 00:05:10
    of products that we store. We have a
  • 00:05:13
    machine learning algorithm which decide
  • 00:05:14
    the optimal box size. From there it goes
  • 00:05:17
    to a process we call slam which is
  • 00:05:20
    basically a place where we put the label
  • 00:05:22
    where your address and you know contact
  • 00:05:24
    information all of that is there. On
  • 00:05:27
    that label, there's again a realtime
  • 00:05:29
    calculation that happens that we thought
  • 00:05:31
    we'll get it to you by train or by plane
  • 00:05:34
    or by truck based on the initial
  • 00:05:36
    calculation. Does that promise still
  • 00:05:38
    hold? Will we be able to meet your
  • 00:05:40
    promise or we have to change the mode of
  • 00:05:43
    transportation? After that, it then goes
  • 00:05:45
    onto a truck onto a sort center and a
  • 00:05:48
    delivery station or to the nearest
  • 00:05:51
    airport and rides a plane depending on
  • 00:05:53
    where you are and where the inventory
  • 00:05:54
    is. So say say around Delhi which must
  • 00:05:57
    be one of your biggest markets. Uh how
  • 00:06:00
    much of the need are you able to fulfill
  • 00:06:02
    with a center like this? This is not
  • 00:06:04
    small I can see. Yeah. No it's one of
  • 00:06:06
    our largest in in the country. It's in
  • 00:06:08
    fact the largest in North India. Just
  • 00:06:10
    from a floor space perspective it's a
  • 00:06:12
    450,000 square ft building. It is 1.4
  • 00:06:15
    million cubic feet of storage. from a
  • 00:06:19
    place like this or from the many such
  • 00:06:21
    buildings that we have in north of
  • 00:06:23
    India. Large percentage of our orders
  • 00:06:25
    are fulfilled locally. We want that to
  • 00:06:28
    happen because then we are able to offer
  • 00:06:30
    the widest selection at the fastest
  • 00:06:32
    speed to the customers. There's no
  • 00:06:33
    better way to offer fast selection than
  • 00:06:36
    to keep it as close to the customer as
  • 00:06:37
    possible.
  • 00:06:57
    Now we see this building for me it's
  • 00:07:00
    just another I don't want to call it
  • 00:07:03
    warehouse but it's a place where lots of
  • 00:07:05
    different stuff is boxed stored etc etc
  • 00:07:09
    right where is the technology science
  • 00:07:12
    because you guys keep claiming that your
  • 00:07:14
    buildings are scientifically advanced.
  • 00:07:16
    So we use technology both from a
  • 00:07:19
    hardware and software perspective to
  • 00:07:22
    make sure that we are able to make the
  • 00:07:24
    customer experience and the associate
  • 00:07:26
    experience better. Let's take you from
  • 00:07:28
    the inbound process where we are right
  • 00:07:30
    now. This is where we receive goods from
  • 00:07:32
    our sellers. As soon as something is
  • 00:07:35
    received, if we've not received that in
  • 00:07:37
    any of our buildings in the world, we
  • 00:07:40
    take it to a machine we call a QB scan.
  • 00:07:42
    This machine does a six I can see see
  • 00:07:46
    that's cub scan. Yes, that's the QB scan
  • 00:07:48
    machine area and right below that is the
  • 00:07:50
    machine. So in that machine we do a
  • 00:07:52
    sixway scan a weight and everything so
  • 00:07:55
    that we know the exact dimension of
  • 00:07:57
    this. Once something is scanned in one
  • 00:07:59
    building, you don't have to scan it
  • 00:08:01
    anywhere in the world. It now becomes a
  • 00:08:02
    part of our catalog. From there it gets
  • 00:08:06
    stored in our inventory area. That store
  • 00:08:10
    is also decided based on the optimum
  • 00:08:12
    location of that depending on what are
  • 00:08:14
    the sell through rate and things like
  • 00:08:16
    that. Then after that from a pick
  • 00:08:20
    perspective we spoke about your
  • 00:08:22
    television order when it drops to a
  • 00:08:23
    fulfillment center. We decide from a
  • 00:08:27
    associate who's picking from their pick
  • 00:08:29
    path point of view what is the closest
  • 00:08:31
    point of the inventory. So there's a
  • 00:08:33
    real time allocation of the order to the
  • 00:08:37
    associate who's picking on their
  • 00:08:38
    handheld. They then go pick up the item
  • 00:08:41
    from there. From there it is put on
  • 00:08:43
    conveyor. So the whole building has a
  • 00:08:45
    lot of conveyance and automation where
  • 00:08:47
    associate walk is reduced and effort is
  • 00:08:49
    reduced and it goes to a pack station.
  • 00:08:52
    On the pack station, we determine what
  • 00:08:55
    is the right box size using machine
  • 00:08:56
    learning based on the type of stuff it
  • 00:08:59
    is. Can it go in a paper bag without
  • 00:09:01
    getting damaged? Should it go in a
  • 00:09:02
    corrugate box, in a corrugate box? What
  • 00:09:04
    size of corugate box should it go in
  • 00:09:06
    depending on how far it has to go and so
  • 00:09:08
    on and so forth. From there, it goes to
  • 00:09:10
    the place where we label the box. When
  • 00:09:12
    we label the box, we do another realtime
  • 00:09:14
    calculation to determine whether we'll
  • 00:09:16
    be able to meet the promise or not. In
  • 00:09:19
    our transportation network which is
  • 00:09:21
    after the fulfillment center we have
  • 00:09:23
    sort centers. You know think of sort
  • 00:09:24
    centers like bus sort centers s like a
  • 00:09:28
    post office not necessarily a post
  • 00:09:30
    office like a bus stop. Think of it like
  • 00:09:31
    ISBD that you have you know buses coming
  • 00:09:34
    from all over south and to go to north
  • 00:09:37
    you change the bus to go there. So you
  • 00:09:38
    send big trucks to sort centers. From
  • 00:09:40
    sort centers, smaller vehicles go to
  • 00:09:42
    delivery stations, right? And in the
  • 00:09:46
    delivery stations, we use routing
  • 00:09:49
    algorithms to make sure that our
  • 00:09:50
    delivery associates have the most
  • 00:09:52
    optimal path to be able to deliver those
  • 00:09:55
    packages during the day. So in every
  • 00:09:57
    aspect of associate and customer
  • 00:10:00
    experience, technology is a large part
  • 00:10:03
    of our operations as VP ops. So I
  • 00:10:07
    understand you have to make a choice
  • 00:10:09
    between speed and
  • 00:10:11
    reliability. What gets priority? So the
  • 00:10:15
    first thing that gets priority quite
  • 00:10:16
    honestly is safety. Uh nothing trumps
  • 00:10:19
    safety of our associates whether it's
  • 00:10:21
    here in the building or out on road. But
  • 00:10:24
    from a speed and reliability we don't
  • 00:10:25
    see it as a trade-off. We know that we
  • 00:10:27
    have to offer the largest possible
  • 00:10:29
    selection at the fastest possible speed.
  • 00:10:32
    But it has to be done reliably otherwise
  • 00:10:34
    there's no point offering that speed. So
  • 00:10:36
    we actually don't think of them as
  • 00:10:37
    tradeoff. We use technology to make sure
  • 00:10:40
    that we are able to build a reliable
  • 00:10:42
    system that exceptionally fast like we
  • 00:10:45
    have less than same day delivery in many
  • 00:10:48
    cities in India. A lot large part of
  • 00:10:51
    India is covered with next day delivery.
  • 00:10:53
    We have reached to every single post
  • 00:10:55
    code in India. So we deeply care about
  • 00:10:58
    providing our widest selection to the
  • 00:11:01
    largest possible you know part of the
  • 00:11:04
    country. So we don't see that as a
  • 00:11:06
    trade-off. I personally don't see that
  • 00:11:07
    as a trade-off. But in your in your
  • 00:11:09
    functioning life, have you faced
  • 00:11:11
    situations where you have to take a
  • 00:11:13
    call?
  • 00:11:14
    No. So I think when things like a severe
  • 00:11:18
    weather event happens, when a thing like
  • 00:11:20
    you know rains happen suddenly in in
  • 00:11:24
    that case we believe in honestly and
  • 00:11:25
    transparently communicating to our
  • 00:11:27
    customers and yes we do slow down the
  • 00:11:31
    network so that we are able to offer
  • 00:11:33
    customers the right promise. You don't
  • 00:11:36
    want to overpromise and underdel because
  • 00:11:38
    you don't want the customer to feel as
  • 00:11:41
    though they'll get something faster but
  • 00:11:43
    they don't get it faster. But that's
  • 00:11:44
    only in the case when the network is
  • 00:11:46
    constrained by uncontrollables. But when
  • 00:11:48
    it comes to controllables, we don't see
  • 00:11:50
    that trade-off.
  • 00:11:52
    So, so what part of your operation is
  • 00:11:55
    still manual? I see from the packaging
  • 00:11:57
    is right. So, this actually is the
  • 00:12:01
    vendor returns area.
  • 00:12:04
    Yeah. This is where the seller inventory
  • 00:12:07
    which is going back to the sellers.
  • 00:12:09
    either it is you know something that
  • 00:12:11
    they want to take back from a
  • 00:12:12
    fulfillment perspective because they'd
  • 00:12:13
    like to change the inventory or it has
  • 00:12:16
    come back from the customers and it's
  • 00:12:17
    finding their way back.
  • 00:12:20
    So where it's required from a u handling
  • 00:12:25
    perspective we still have manual
  • 00:12:26
    operations but all of it is aided
  • 00:12:29
    whether it's through software or through
  • 00:12:31
    hardware technology like conveyors.
  • 00:12:34
    Yeah. So when it comes to comes to quick
  • 00:12:36
    commerce which one is more important
  • 00:12:38
    speed, value, customer satisfaction?
  • 00:12:42
    I think as a customer yourself you will
  • 00:12:44
    agree
  • 00:12:45
    that you have different needs at
  • 00:12:48
    different points in time but one thing
  • 00:12:50
    which remains constant is that you want
  • 00:12:53
    the largest selection at the fastest
  • 00:12:54
    speed and that's exactly what we have
  • 00:12:57
    focused on from a quick commerce
  • 00:12:59
    perspective as well. How do you make the
  • 00:13:02
    right relevant selection available to
  • 00:13:04
    the customer at the fastest possible
  • 00:13:06
    speed uh is going to be the way to look
  • 00:13:09
    at I'm going to uh we talk about
  • 00:13:13
    environment and safety one part of that
  • 00:13:16
    is also packaging right so I find
  • 00:13:19
    international media also uh
  • 00:13:22
    environmental activists also there's a
  • 00:13:24
    concern about packaging
  • 00:13:27
    right you have a point of view certainly
  • 00:13:30
    I think from a packaging perspective,
  • 00:13:32
    one of the things and the plastics
  • 00:13:34
    absolutely non non-recyclable. So from a
  • 00:13:36
    packaging perspective, we've been
  • 00:13:38
    focusing on this area for many many
  • 00:13:40
    years. In fact, in this fulfillment
  • 00:13:43
    center or any fulfillment center of
  • 00:13:45
    Amazon across the country, all outbound
  • 00:13:48
    packages are completely plastic free.
  • 00:13:51
    We've actually worked on inventions like
  • 00:13:53
    paper tape and making sure that we are
  • 00:13:56
    using tertiary containers so that we
  • 00:13:58
    don't have any need for packaging in
  • 00:14:01
    most cases. So a large percentage of our
  • 00:14:03
    shipments actually go without packaging.
  • 00:14:05
    The benefit of this approach is not just
  • 00:14:08
    removal of packaging, downsizing of
  • 00:14:10
    packaging, reducing waste, all of that
  • 00:14:12
    is really there. That's the first order
  • 00:14:15
    impact. The second order impact is that
  • 00:14:17
    the weight of our outbound packages has
  • 00:14:20
    come down by a significant number as
  • 00:14:22
    much as
  • 00:14:23
    28%. Which reduces the need for diesel
  • 00:14:27
    when I see a bit of plastic here but
  • 00:14:30
    obviously this doesn't go into delivery.
  • 00:14:32
    No. So this goes all the way to the last
  • 00:14:34
    mile delivery station. From there it
  • 00:14:36
    goes to the delivery associate in the
  • 00:14:38
    delivery bag. But because we transfer in
  • 00:14:41
    these plastic containers, you don't need
  • 00:14:45
    to put a lot of extra packaging on the
  • 00:14:47
    item itself. The item can go relatively
  • 00:14:50
    unprotected and reach safely to the
  • 00:14:51
    customer. Yeah. And then it comes back
  • 00:14:53
    to you the box. Yes.
  • 00:14:55
    That to that extent you are using them
  • 00:14:58
    and they mostly indestructible. Exactly.
  • 00:15:00
    So they have permanent life. Yeah. and
  • 00:15:03
    your your competition, do you look at
  • 00:15:05
    your competition in terms of safety, in
  • 00:15:07
    terms of technology, how they run their
  • 00:15:10
    centers? So from a safety and from a
  • 00:15:15
    infrastructure perspective, especially
  • 00:15:17
    when it comes to associate experience,
  • 00:15:19
    we are certain that we are industry
  • 00:15:22
    leaders. But for us, that's just the way
  • 00:15:25
    we would like to do business. from a
  • 00:15:27
    associate experience perspective whether
  • 00:15:29
    the fulfillment center that you're
  • 00:15:30
    standing in right now is temperature
  • 00:15:33
    control. It has real-time monitoring
  • 00:15:35
    systems which I will show you later
  • 00:15:37
    which not just measure the temperature
  • 00:15:39
    but also the humidity of the building to
  • 00:15:42
    calculate something we call the heat in
  • 00:15:43
    that because humidity is important.
  • 00:15:45
    Things get ruined. Exactly. Electronics
  • 00:15:47
    can get ruined. Well, it is one thing
  • 00:15:50
    but from a sociate comfort as well
  • 00:15:53
    humidity matters as much as temperature.
  • 00:15:55
    So we measure a heat index and based on
  • 00:15:58
    what the heat index of the building or
  • 00:15:59
    that area is, we take the right safety
  • 00:16:02
    protocols. That's just one example from
  • 00:16:05
    an associate benefits point of view. You
  • 00:16:08
    know the we have a 5day work week not
  • 00:16:11
    just for managers but also for
  • 00:16:12
    associates. That flexible work schedule
  • 00:16:15
    is one of the big reasons why associates
  • 00:16:17
    love working for us. The other aspects
  • 00:16:20
    by the way this culture of safety and
  • 00:16:22
    the culture of respect that we so deeply
  • 00:16:24
    care about is one of our biggest
  • 00:16:27
    retention factors not just for
  • 00:16:29
    associates but also for managers that
  • 00:16:32
    deep care that you know you come into
  • 00:16:33
    this building or any building at Amazon
  • 00:16:36
    and you're going to go back home safe
  • 00:16:38
    and people really care about how you're
  • 00:16:40
    doing work how comfortable are you that
  • 00:16:42
    you're doing work that matters to us
  • 00:16:44
    because you know what worked in all
  • 00:16:46
    kinds of working conditions and also
  • 00:16:48
    Being somebody who who spent a lot of my
  • 00:16:50
    time in rough rough areas and rough
  • 00:16:53
    conditions, heat and humidity, watching
  • 00:16:57
    that can be the difference between a
  • 00:16:58
    place being a sweat shop and being a
  • 00:17:01
    comfortable bark area. Absolutely.
  • 00:17:03
    Because it becomes literally a sweat
  • 00:17:05
    shop in India. Well, not in Amazon for
  • 00:17:08
    for many months in the year. Yeah. And I
  • 00:17:10
    find that people can be sometimes
  • 00:17:12
    conscious of uh the heat but not of
  • 00:17:16
    humidity. Absolutely. because that's
  • 00:17:19
    essential to uh comfort. So there were
  • 00:17:21
    some issues about uh working environment
  • 00:17:23
    in some of your facilities. You do make
  • 00:17:26
    the press sometimes. Uh what was that
  • 00:17:29
    about and and what lessons have you
  • 00:17:31
    learned?
  • 00:17:33
    So at the start we are very confident
  • 00:17:37
    that last
  • 00:17:39
    year just like this year our facilities
  • 00:17:43
    were industryleading and the actual
  • 00:17:46
    environment inside our buildings was
  • 00:17:49
    very comfortable for associates. But
  • 00:17:51
    when we investigated, we did find an
  • 00:17:54
    isolated incident of a manager taking an
  • 00:17:58
    action which was not in the you know
  • 00:18:01
    true spirit of which we operate from a
  • 00:18:02
    safety perspective. We took the right
  • 00:18:05
    disciplinary action. We learned from
  • 00:18:07
    that incident. We then decimated that
  • 00:18:09
    learning across the company and we make
  • 00:18:13
    sure that the safety protocols that we
  • 00:18:14
    have are always followed. By the way,
  • 00:18:17
    just in that case also sir, the manager
  • 00:18:21
    and the background to the story is the
  • 00:18:23
    manager had actually said something like
  • 00:18:26
    um you know I will not do this I will
  • 00:18:29
    not take a break till the time this
  • 00:18:31
    thing gets done and he hadn't said you
  • 00:18:33
    will not take a break but it could have
  • 00:18:36
    been misconstrued but the expectation
  • 00:18:38
    would have been that the boss is not
  • 00:18:39
    taking a break then we are offering but
  • 00:18:42
    we saw the footage and everything breaks
  • 00:18:44
    were taken but notwithstanding it was
  • 00:18:46
    not the right way to do things. So we
  • 00:18:47
    did take the
  • 00:19:04
    act. So what are the different kinds of
  • 00:19:06
    roles that you have in the fulfillment
  • 00:19:09
    center? How does Amazon prepare and
  • 00:19:11
    train people for these jobs? Cuz I see
  • 00:19:14
    when I see your people, many of them are
  • 00:19:16
    very young people. Yes. And I think many
  • 00:19:18
    from local areas. Yes. So, so we have uh
  • 00:19:21
    people in this building in particular
  • 00:19:23
    coming from uh nearby villages within 15
  • 00:19:28
    kilometers and also from other states
  • 00:19:30
    like West Bengal, Punjab and other
  • 00:19:32
    places. For us, it starts with a safety
  • 00:19:36
    induction. Whenever they come into the
  • 00:19:39
    building for the first time, we spend a
  • 00:19:40
    lot of time training them on how they
  • 00:19:42
    can do their job safely. Once that is
  • 00:19:45
    done, then they are trained on different
  • 00:19:47
    process parts and based on that
  • 00:19:49
    training, they are either allocated to
  • 00:19:51
    picking or packing or stowing and so on
  • 00:19:56
    so forth. So the different processes
  • 00:19:58
    required to fulfill a customer order is
  • 00:20:01
    where they get allocated. What's the
  • 00:20:04
    meaning of damage and amnesty? I'm just
  • 00:20:06
    curious. So amnesty is damage. I
  • 00:20:10
    understand. What's amnesty? Amnesty is
  • 00:20:12
    if you find something lying on the
  • 00:20:13
    floor, you go and put it there. You
  • 00:20:16
    don't put it back in any shelf that you
  • 00:20:18
    see. Because if you put it back in any
  • 00:20:20
    shelf that you see, then the count will
  • 00:20:22
    go go off. So you put it over here and
  • 00:20:25
    then someone will come scan that later,
  • 00:20:27
    find the right place for it and go put
  • 00:20:29
    it back. So tell me more about this
  • 00:20:32
    training challenges uh because I've been
  • 00:20:34
    to the Infosys training center in Mysore
  • 00:20:38
    and I know that the training includes
  • 00:20:40
    teaching men to wear ties and women to
  • 00:20:42
    wear saris and teaching spok spoken
  • 00:20:45
    English. These are all engineers from
  • 00:20:48
    regional colleges. So what kind what
  • 00:20:50
    kind of training challenges do you have?
  • 00:20:52
    Uh I wouldn't say challenges I would say
  • 00:20:54
    more opportunities from a training
  • 00:20:56
    perspective. We work with people to make
  • 00:20:59
    sure that they like to be really
  • 00:21:03
    forthright about it. Safety from a
  • 00:21:05
    culture point of view if you look at it
  • 00:21:07
    outside the building is not a very big
  • 00:21:08
    fabric of uh the society at large as yet
  • 00:21:12
    even you and me from seat belts point of
  • 00:21:14
    view in the back seat would you be
  • 00:21:16
    wearing it? you know, I I will take you
  • 00:21:17
    to Pune. Nobody wears a seat belt and
  • 00:21:20
    nobody wears a helmet and it's seen as
  • 00:21:23
    as as a as a defeat if you're forced to
  • 00:21:26
    do work. And in that environment, we
  • 00:21:29
    create an a a bubble almost where safety
  • 00:21:33
    is the biggest thing. Uh and how you do
  • 00:21:36
    your role safely and how you use
  • 00:21:37
    technology. You spoke about helmet a
  • 00:21:40
    very pertinent example for our drivers.
  • 00:21:42
    We have a mandatory selfie check which
  • 00:21:44
    come pops up at different points in time
  • 00:21:46
    during the day where they have to
  • 00:21:48
    demonstrate that they are wearing a
  • 00:21:49
    helmet and carrying a helmet with them
  • 00:21:51
    when they're going out for deliveries.
  • 00:21:53
    So that and then how you can train
  • 00:21:56
    people on making sure that the same
  • 00:21:59
    customer obsession culture which is so a
  • 00:22:01
    part of who we are at Amazon you know
  • 00:22:03
    permeates through the organization. Um
  • 00:22:06
    we focus a lot on respectful behavior
  • 00:22:09
    and then finally the functional training
  • 00:22:11
    of how to use the scanners, how to use
  • 00:22:13
    the tools and the technology and the
  • 00:22:15
    machines all of that stuff. We taking
  • 00:22:18
    about talking about training and
  • 00:22:19
    induction. We found somebody
  • 00:22:34
    here. Okay. Family
  • 00:22:47
    life. Yes
  • 00:22:49
    sir. Thank you sir.
  • 00:23:03
    facet.
  • 00:23:25
    You know, I see a lot of women on your
  • 00:23:27
    floor. Uh what is your gender uh ratio?
  • 00:23:32
    We truly believe in an inclusive uh work
  • 00:23:35
    environment and you know we want our
  • 00:23:40
    employee base to be representative of
  • 00:23:41
    our customers which is half of them are
  • 00:23:43
    women. So that's roughly the ratio that
  • 00:23:46
    you'll find in all of our buildings
  • 00:23:47
    whether it's associates or it is
  • 00:23:50
    managers you will find that nearly half
  • 00:23:52
    of them are in it and how does it
  • 00:23:55
    compare with facilities elsewhere in the
  • 00:23:56
    world. So it's a global uh priority and
  • 00:24:00
    it compares similarly to our facilities
  • 00:24:02
    in rest of the world but from an
  • 00:24:04
    industry perspective you know we're
  • 00:24:06
    certainly industry leading
  • 00:24:14
    Kumar
  • 00:24:59
    Aa salary.
  • 00:25:05
    I'm
  • 00:25:27
    transfer training.
  • 00:25:52
    So this is what I was telling you about
  • 00:25:53
    the heat index. These are sensors which
  • 00:25:56
    are deployed all across the building.
  • 00:25:58
    They measure the temperature, the
  • 00:26:01
    humidity and the combination of the two
  • 00:26:03
    to determine how comfortable it is to
  • 00:26:05
    work in that area. If the heat index
  • 00:26:08
    goes beyond a certain level, an
  • 00:26:11
    automatic alarm gets triggered not just
  • 00:26:13
    here but across the network and then we
  • 00:26:15
    have to take mitigating actions as per
  • 00:26:17
    our protocol which include you know
  • 00:26:20
    rotation from work you know giving
  • 00:26:22
    extended breaks or in fact shutting down
  • 00:26:25
    that area or the building completely
  • 00:26:27
    because it's not comfortable to work
  • 00:26:30
    in. The other place is but but you know
  • 00:26:34
    safety the biggest thing is to have
  • 00:26:35
    consciousness. Absolutely because you
  • 00:26:37
    know we are a country of jard and jard
  • 00:26:40
    is the enemy of safety right so
  • 00:26:43
    people that's a challenge in India I
  • 00:26:46
    agree and for that it's about overt
  • 00:26:49
    communication and making sure that every
  • 00:26:52
    time you're reinforcing the fact that
  • 00:26:55
    safety is the most important thing in
  • 00:26:56
    fact when associates come from their
  • 00:26:59
    home in home office home buses that we
  • 00:27:01
    provide we make sure that all of those
  • 00:27:03
    buses have seat belts and they have to
  • 00:27:06
    wear those seat belts they come into the
  • 00:27:08
    building and the first thing they do to
  • 00:27:10
    start their day is a safety briefing. So
  • 00:27:12
    it is a huge part of our communication
  • 00:27:15
    culture here in Amazon. Yeah. Because
  • 00:27:16
    also know for us culturally a little bit
  • 00:27:19
    of
  • 00:27:23
    fatism what happen what has to happen
  • 00:27:25
    will happen and that's the one that
  • 00:27:27
    everybody has to try to I mean we also
  • 00:27:30
    do it in our own ways. Absolutely. Try
  • 00:27:32
    and tell people don't take risks. You
  • 00:27:34
    don't have to. For example, this is the
  • 00:27:37
    other aspect of the culture which I
  • 00:27:39
    wanted to talk to you about about an
  • 00:27:41
    open communication. So here people can
  • 00:27:44
    talk about what's going well. where is
  • 00:27:46
    it that they'd like a few improvements
  • 00:27:48
    in our building or in the way things are
  • 00:27:50
    going and there's a very open culture
  • 00:27:53
    where they can put this in on an
  • 00:27:54
    electronic forum which you're used to
  • 00:27:56
    anyway from a social media perspective
  • 00:27:58
    and we respond to it and take action and
  • 00:28:01
    actually broadcast it. So this is an
  • 00:28:03
    open dialogue that we have with our
  • 00:28:05
    associates and a very structured forum
  • 00:28:08
    what we call voice of associate. what we
  • 00:28:11
    learn from here. We actually take action
  • 00:28:14
    and then we talk about it broadly about
  • 00:28:16
    how we have you know taken action and
  • 00:28:18
    learned from what they've told us.
  • 00:28:37
    We've seen this humongous facility. Uh I
  • 00:28:40
    know you will always have anxieties,
  • 00:28:43
    safety issues. You have so many people.
  • 00:28:46
    Last year there were some questions
  • 00:28:48
    about working conditions in some of your
  • 00:28:50
    facilities. Will you tell us tell me
  • 00:28:52
    more about it? Yeah. So the proof of the
  • 00:28:55
    pudding is in the eating and you have
  • 00:28:57
    seen the worldass infrastructure
  • 00:28:58
    yourself. From a infrastructure
  • 00:29:01
    standards perspective, we are very
  • 00:29:03
    certain that we are industryleading.
  • 00:29:05
    That was as true last year as it is now.
  • 00:29:08
    So we are very sure that the working
  • 00:29:10
    conditions were never in question. When
  • 00:29:13
    we did the investigation, we did find an
  • 00:29:16
    isolated case of of a manager taking
  • 00:29:19
    action on their own accord. That action
  • 00:29:21
    was not in accordance with our safety
  • 00:29:24
    protocols and we took disciplinary
  • 00:29:26
    action and learned from that incident.
  • 00:29:29
    But it was an isolated incident which we
  • 00:29:31
    learned from. It didn't change the focus
  • 00:29:33
    that we have on safety. It didn't change
  • 00:29:36
    the way we think about our
  • 00:29:37
    infrastructure, but it just taught us
  • 00:29:39
    how we can do better. And and would you
  • 00:29:41
    say emphatically that this was the only
  • 00:29:43
    one? Oh yes. We looked at it from all
  • 00:29:46
    angles. We looked at each and every
  • 00:29:49
    facility. We conducted hundreds of
  • 00:29:51
    interviews just to be sure that this was
  • 00:29:54
    indeed an isolated incident which it
  • 00:29:55
    was. Yeah. Because you do this in many
  • 00:29:58
    countries, right? And you are a you are
  • 00:30:00
    in your face everywhere. You are a very
  • 00:30:03
    big brand. So these things are very very
  • 00:30:07
    sensitive. Oh yes, absolutely. And it's
  • 00:30:09
    not so much from a sensitivity for the
  • 00:30:11
    outside world perspective. It's the
  • 00:30:13
    standard that we want to have for our
  • 00:30:15
    associates and our managers. And you're
  • 00:30:18
    right, the same standards apply in India
  • 00:30:20
    as they do anywhere else in the world.
  • 00:30:23
    The other thing I noticed uh just
  • 00:30:25
    walking past this that there are some
  • 00:30:28
    young people who are I could figure out
  • 00:30:32
    a speech and hearing impaired. So uh do
  • 00:30:35
    you specially reach out and hire people
  • 00:30:38
    like that? You do you have like a kota
  • 00:30:41
    and if so how do you train them and how
  • 00:30:44
    do you keep them safe? So it's not a
  • 00:30:47
    kota. We try to maximize the
  • 00:30:50
    opportunities that we can provide from
  • 00:30:51
    an inclusion perspective. Um so we
  • 00:30:54
    started it as a small experiment but now
  • 00:30:57
    there are thousands of such associate
  • 00:30:59
    across all type of operations whether
  • 00:31:01
    it's fulfillment centers, sort centers,
  • 00:31:04
    delivery stations. We in fact partner
  • 00:31:06
    with organizations like the Sarta
  • 00:31:08
    Foundation where we train them not just
  • 00:31:10
    for Amazon but for retail and e-commerce
  • 00:31:13
    from an employability perspective. Here
  • 00:31:16
    in Amazon, a lot of them have grown from
  • 00:31:18
    being associates to process associates
  • 00:31:21
    to now even manager in some cases. And
  • 00:31:24
    from a training point of view, we make
  • 00:31:26
    sure that we have the right inclusive
  • 00:31:28
    environment and trainers who know sign.
  • 00:31:30
    All our managers train on basic sign. In
  • 00:31:33
    fact, when we were walking past the
  • 00:31:34
    television, you would have seen that
  • 00:31:37
    people teaching basic sign over there.
  • 00:31:39
    And for creating an environment where
  • 00:31:41
    anyone can have a conversation, we have
  • 00:31:43
    a technology we call signable where we
  • 00:31:45
    can have a three-way conversation with
  • 00:31:47
    an ondemand sign interpreter. So you
  • 00:31:50
    could go on the floor and talk to the
  • 00:31:52
    person who speech and hearing impaired
  • 00:31:54
    by using a three-way interpreter and a
  • 00:31:56
    virtual technology. Now the other part
  • 00:31:59
    of this this I know this is a big
  • 00:32:01
    logistics hub for you but the stuff goes
  • 00:32:04
    out of here but then the stuff reaches
  • 00:32:06
    me. That's that's the that's the tail
  • 00:32:09
    end of the operation. And like the human
  • 00:32:12
    body, the blood supply is more it's most
  • 00:32:15
    challenging to get the right blood
  • 00:32:17
    supply at the at the end of the human
  • 00:32:20
    body. So what happens at that end and
  • 00:32:23
    who are these delivery agents? How are
  • 00:32:25
    they trained? And how you how do you
  • 00:32:27
    look after them and how do you make sure
  • 00:32:29
    they are disciplined and they are
  • 00:32:31
    welcome in people's homes. Right? I did
  • 00:32:34
    not know that the feet is the hardest
  • 00:32:36
    part to get the blood to. I will make
  • 00:32:38
    sure I remember that every day of the
  • 00:32:39
    school day. Um, you're very right from a
  • 00:32:43
    customer perspective. The only point of
  • 00:32:47
    contact with Amazon is the delivery
  • 00:32:48
    associate and we want to make sure that
  • 00:32:51
    that experience is as good as it can be.
  • 00:32:54
    From a delivery perspective, we have
  • 00:32:57
    multiple we call channels of delivery.
  • 00:32:59
    One of them is I have space which is
  • 00:33:02
    Kirana stores who you know think about
  • 00:33:04
    your neighborhood Kiryana shop. They
  • 00:33:05
    have customers coming in the morning.
  • 00:33:07
    They have customers coming in the
  • 00:33:08
    evening but a large part of their day
  • 00:33:11
    they don't have customer footfall but
  • 00:33:13
    they know the area quite intimately and
  • 00:33:15
    in fact they do deliveries to people's
  • 00:33:17
    homes. So we give them packages to
  • 00:33:20
    deliver for us. There are 28,000 such
  • 00:33:22
    stores across the country who do
  • 00:33:24
    deliveries for us. We have a program of
  • 00:33:26
    small and medium enterprises. you know
  • 00:33:29
    these small businesses who we call
  • 00:33:31
    delivery service partners or extended
  • 00:33:33
    delivery service partners. These are you
  • 00:33:35
    know housewives, veterans, college
  • 00:33:38
    students who are doing this part-time or
  • 00:33:42
    full-time running businesses of their
  • 00:33:44
    own. They don't have to be from a
  • 00:33:45
    logistics background. We enable them
  • 00:33:47
    with training provide them the right
  • 00:33:49
    technology and then they do the
  • 00:33:51
    deliveries for us. We also have
  • 00:33:53
    something called flex which is basically
  • 00:33:56
    an ondemand model. Amazon flex where you
  • 00:33:59
    know college students very similar to
  • 00:34:01
    the one who you met in the building
  • 00:34:02
    today who the BCOM student actually the
  • 00:34:05
    BCOM student who's coming here for a few
  • 00:34:07
    hours similarly there are students who
  • 00:34:09
    can or housewives who can deliver for
  • 00:34:12
    small duration during the day from a
  • 00:34:14
    safety
  • 00:34:15
    perspective like depending on the
  • 00:34:18
    weather one of the biggest things that
  • 00:34:19
    we do is making sure that the out on
  • 00:34:21
    road conditions are safe for them. So
  • 00:34:23
    every day before they go out onto the
  • 00:34:25
    road, they have to do something called a
  • 00:34:28
    vehicle check where they make sure that
  • 00:34:29
    the tire pressure is right. They log it.
  • 00:34:31
    They make sure that the we make sure
  • 00:34:33
    that the bike is insured or the vehicle
  • 00:34:35
    is insured and that it's in good working
  • 00:34:38
    condition. From there on, when they're
  • 00:34:40
    on road, we mandate helmet wearing. So
  • 00:34:42
    we do checks with photographs and when
  • 00:34:44
    they come into station, they have to be
  • 00:34:46
    carrying a helmet. We mandate the fact
  • 00:34:48
    that when they are on road, they're
  • 00:34:50
    driving at a safe speed. if they are
  • 00:34:52
    over speeding or you know they can can
  • 00:34:55
    you monitor it? Yes, we actually send
  • 00:34:57
    them real time alerts to tell them that
  • 00:34:59
    they are over speeding at this point in
  • 00:35:01
    time. One of the menaces you're a animal
  • 00:35:04
    lover but one of the menaces that is
  • 00:35:06
    there on road is stray dogs and I
  • 00:35:08
    thought they particularly did not like
  • 00:35:10
    pizza delivery ballers. Well, you know
  • 00:35:13
    for them anyone on a bike represents
  • 00:35:15
    danger I suppose. So in that case we
  • 00:35:18
    actually have information on our
  • 00:35:20
    applications where is it that there is a
  • 00:35:22
    high propensity of tradeoffs. We also
  • 00:35:24
    have ties. Yeah. When it's a wolf pack
  • 00:35:27
    then it becomes a problem. Absolutely.
  • 00:35:29
    We also have tie-ups with third party
  • 00:35:31
    ambulance service providers you know. So
  • 00:35:33
    in case of an incident or an accident on
  • 00:35:36
    road within a few minutes an ambulance
  • 00:35:38
    shows up for rescue and help. We have
  • 00:35:42
    insurance and accidental coverage. you
  • 00:35:44
    know we have accidental coverage of up
  • 00:35:45
    to five lakhs can you know health
  • 00:35:47
    coverage up to one lakh so there's a
  • 00:35:50
    plethora of benefits and safety protocol
  • 00:35:53
    that we do to make sure that people are
  • 00:35:55
    safe one of the things which I'm deeply
  • 00:35:57
    passionate about is in the summer we
  • 00:36:00
    give people time off during the day so
  • 00:36:03
    we give them route lengths which are
  • 00:36:05
    less than what they are you know needing
  • 00:36:07
    to deliver the packages for that 1 hour
  • 00:36:10
    half an hour in the afternoon when they
  • 00:36:11
    have free time we are establishing
  • 00:36:14
    centers we call ashray where people who
  • 00:36:18
    are delivering packages ash means
  • 00:36:19
    shelter shelter absolutely people who
  • 00:36:22
    are delivering packages or other items
  • 00:36:24
    for any company not just Amazon can go
  • 00:36:28
    rest in an air conditioned environment a
  • 00:36:31
    veil of cold water free tea coffee
  • 00:36:33
    charge their phone and basically not
  • 00:36:36
    have to be out on road during the
  • 00:36:38
    hottest part of the rain so I can if I
  • 00:36:41
    can make a suggestion to you I think you
  • 00:36:43
    to tie up with animal support groups
  • 00:36:46
    particularly. There are lots of
  • 00:36:47
    volunteer groups who look after stray
  • 00:36:49
    dogs. So that will help you have the
  • 00:36:52
    stray dogs more peaceful and less
  • 00:36:55
    threatening. Those things work very
  • 00:36:57
    well. I'll take that onwards. And that
  • 00:36:59
    be part of your safety uh safety I think
  • 00:37:02
    because you know if you are chased by a
  • 00:37:04
    dog it can be very scary. Absolutely.
  • 00:37:06
    And pe people can do people can panic
  • 00:37:08
    and do uh odd things. Having said that
  • 00:37:11
    since we since we came to uh blood
  • 00:37:14
    circulation
  • 00:37:16
    uh remember that song feets feet are
  • 00:37:19
    made for walking right I I think that's
  • 00:37:22
    the principle always because your heart
  • 00:37:24
    pumps the blood and your feet are the
  • 00:37:27
    most disciplined part for the heart to
  • 00:37:28
    pump the blood to so I think that's was
  • 00:37:30
    it Nancy Sinetra or somebody who sang I
  • 00:37:34
    it I think from my childhood or even
  • 00:37:36
    earlier so that principle is a good one
  • 00:37:39
    for life and You are the son of a
  • 00:37:40
    champion aviator. So I know that you
  • 00:37:44
    you've seen you've seen the benefits of
  • 00:37:46
    physical movement and exercise and
  • 00:37:49
    walking and running. Oh, absolutely.
  • 00:37:50
    It's a large part of my life and
  • 00:37:53
    something that I've inherited. Yeah. Now
  • 00:37:55
    uh do you control uh you said that you
  • 00:37:59
    uh in summer in summer you give people
  • 00:38:02
    uh break time and give them less work
  • 00:38:05
    but do you follow like some norms of how
  • 00:38:08
    many deliveries in a day uh how do you
  • 00:38:11
    optimize it? So it really depends on the
  • 00:38:14
    area and the time that is available. For
  • 00:38:17
    example, you know, in an area which is
  • 00:38:19
    very dense, you can do more deliveries
  • 00:38:21
    in the same time period like in in a in
  • 00:38:24
    a building, in an office building, in a
  • 00:38:26
    apartment building and so on and so
  • 00:38:28
    forth. In areas which are widespread,
  • 00:38:30
    you can do fewer deliveries in the same
  • 00:38:32
    time period. In fact, there are some
  • 00:38:34
    time definite deliveries that we offer
  • 00:38:36
    that you order by midnight and you get
  • 00:38:39
    by noon tomorrow in the afternoon. In
  • 00:38:42
    that case, meeting that customer promise
  • 00:38:44
    is important. So in that case you give
  • 00:38:46
    lesser packages for that route. So
  • 00:38:48
    really dependent on the time available
  • 00:38:50
    but it's not as if the more the guy
  • 00:38:52
    delivers the more he gets paid.
  • 00:38:54
    So we have a a model where we have fixed
  • 00:38:59
    income and there is some top from a
  • 00:39:01
    variable perspective but it has always
  • 00:39:04
    made sure that the safety of the driver
  • 00:39:07
    right from the speed at which they are
  • 00:39:08
    driving the load that they are carrying
  • 00:39:10
    by the
  • 00:39:11
    way we make sure that the load that is
  • 00:39:14
    carried is a safe working load it they
  • 00:39:17
    never overloaded even if the bag has
  • 00:39:19
    more space it cuts off at a maximum
  • 00:39:21
    weight that they can carry and and that
  • 00:39:22
    option
  • 00:39:23
    the delivery person does not have no
  • 00:39:26
    they don't have the option to top it up
  • 00:39:28
    the technology will not allow allocation
  • 00:39:31
    of packages beyond a certain weight so
  • 00:39:33
    how many people work for you full-time
  • 00:39:35
    now in India and how many on gig basis
  • 00:39:39
    so over the last 10 years and you know
  • 00:39:41
    I've been fortunate to be part of this
  • 00:39:43
    journey for the entirety of the last 13
  • 00:39:46
    years that we've been here but the 12
  • 00:39:48
    years since we launched you were a
  • 00:39:49
    shippy yes I was a shippy before I
  • 00:39:51
    joined Amazon
  • 00:39:52
    uh but in the last 12 years we've
  • 00:39:54
    created 1.5 million direct and indirect
  • 00:39:57
    jobs at any one point in time there are
  • 00:39:59
    hundreds and thousands of people across
  • 00:40:01
    the country in every city that who are
  • 00:40:03
    working and delivering or packing or you
  • 00:40:06
    know shipping
  • 00:40:08
    parame's now been in India for what uh
  • 00:40:11
    12 years since we launched 12 years
  • 00:40:14
    where do you see the company going in
  • 00:40:16
    India so I truly believe that you also
  • 00:40:19
    have some competition absolutely I truly
  • 00:40:22
    believe that you know some global some
  • 00:40:24
    domestic. Yes. It's a very u optimistic
  • 00:40:29
    scenario. Um you know e-commerce as a
  • 00:40:31
    part of overall retail is still very
  • 00:40:33
    small. Estimates put it at between five
  • 00:40:35
    and 6%. So there is you know enough and
  • 00:40:39
    more for all of us to do and you know
  • 00:40:41
    get speed, convenience and the right.
  • 00:40:44
    I'll never buy my green groceries or
  • 00:40:46
    even other
  • 00:40:48
    groceries through e-commerce. I I still
  • 00:40:51
    like to go to and my wife also like to
  • 00:40:54
    go to the grocery shop. We know the
  • 00:40:56
    person uh or or the chemist shops. So
  • 00:41:00
    these are old habits in India, right? So
  • 00:41:03
    I think you know we are focusing on
  • 00:41:05
    making sure that we are part of that
  • 00:41:07
    habit like I spoke to you about the I
  • 00:41:09
    have space program where these shop
  • 00:41:11
    owners the the grocery you go to or the
  • 00:41:14
    pharmacist you go to their income is
  • 00:41:17
    actually topped up by delivering
  • 00:41:19
    packages for Amazon. So it's a it's an
  • 00:41:21
    ecosystem where we are sort of
  • 00:41:23
    co-inhabiting for that matter and you
  • 00:41:26
    know they are benefiting from the
  • 00:41:27
    delivery experience. So you have now
  • 00:41:30
    competition international that is
  • 00:41:32
    Flipkart which is Walmart right and and
  • 00:41:35
    you have Reliance which is like a big
  • 00:41:37
    Indian MNC that size and that what do
  • 00:41:41
    you worry about? So we truly worry about
  • 00:41:45
    are we getting better for our customers
  • 00:41:46
    or not. Um we are aware of what
  • 00:41:50
    competitors do but we are we obsess
  • 00:41:52
    about the customer experience. Are we
  • 00:41:54
    getting better, faster, more reliable
  • 00:41:57
    for our customers today than we were
  • 00:42:00
    yesterday? If you look at the basic
  • 00:42:02
    facts, we are faster today than we ever
  • 00:42:04
    were to our customers. We offer a larger
  • 00:42:07
    selection at faster speeds than ever
  • 00:42:09
    before. And that's what we truly focus
  • 00:42:11
    on. Uh we want to build a business which
  • 00:42:14
    is the safest, fastest, most reliable
  • 00:42:17
    across the country. uh and in that like
  • 00:42:20
    I said you know e-commerce or online
  • 00:42:23
    commerce is such a small part of retail
  • 00:42:25
    in India that there is room for everyone
  • 00:42:28
    there there's a lot of headroom and what
  • 00:42:30
    kind of a place India is uh for an MNC
  • 00:42:34
    like yours by way of working environment
  • 00:42:37
    regulatory environment is it too much
  • 00:42:39
    regulation too little do you have any
  • 00:42:42
    complaints
  • 00:42:44
    no uh no complaints every country has
  • 00:42:46
    its own unique regulations Our role is
  • 00:42:49
    to make sure that we are fully compliant
  • 00:42:51
    with the local law of the land and we
  • 00:42:53
    are making sure that we are good for the
  • 00:42:55
    country that we operate in and that's
  • 00:42:57
    what we focus on making sure that our
  • 00:42:59
    business model and everything that we do
  • 00:43:01
    is 100% compliant and we are creating a
  • 00:43:04
    positive impact in the country that we
  • 00:43:06
    are in. You know, we've over the last 12
  • 00:43:09
    years helped digitized over 1.3 million
  • 00:43:12
    sellers, created 1.5 million direct and
  • 00:43:15
    indirect jobs, empowered SMBs across the
  • 00:43:19
    nation through our DSP, EDSP, I have
  • 00:43:22
    space program. Uh, and that's what we
  • 00:43:24
    focus on. And you know one of the
  • 00:43:26
    programs which we are deeply passionate
  • 00:43:27
    about is the Kar program where millions
  • 00:43:30
    of sellers have you know these are small
  • 00:43:33
    artisans who are creating in Kashmir or
  • 00:43:35
    in Rajasthan and other parts of the
  • 00:43:37
    country they have come online and
  • 00:43:38
    they're able to access markets across
  • 00:43:40
    the country the Sahaley program where
  • 00:43:43
    women entrepreneurs are encouraged to
  • 00:43:44
    come and work on Amazon and the work
  • 00:43:47
    that we do in the community at a
  • 00:43:49
    grassroots level. There are two projects
  • 00:43:51
    which you know I'm sure you'll be uh as
  • 00:43:54
    passionate about as I am. One is the
  • 00:43:56
    mangrove restoration that we announced
  • 00:43:59
    very recently in Mumbai and Gujarat
  • 00:44:02
    where the pelican habitat in the Tane
  • 00:44:04
    Creek is endangered because of the
  • 00:44:07
    plastic waste that's flowing there. We
  • 00:44:09
    are working with plastic fisher to fish
  • 00:44:11
    out 150 tons of that plastic waste so
  • 00:44:15
    that the pelican habitat is better.
  • 00:44:17
    We're doing replantation in the Gujarat
  • 00:44:19
    mangroves. The second project is in
  • 00:44:22
    cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.
  • 00:44:24
    We're doing lake restoration. So the
  • 00:44:26
    Yamare lake in Bangalore and a lake in
  • 00:44:29
    uh Hyderabad. We are you know
  • 00:44:31
    regenerating about between 270 to 300
  • 00:44:33
    million ton liters of
  • 00:44:36
    water 300 liters of million liters of
  • 00:44:39
    water uh so that we can improve the
  • 00:44:42
    groundwater situation uh in these
  • 00:44:44
    cities. So those are the things we truly
  • 00:44:46
    focus on like are we creating the right
  • 00:44:48
    positive impact uh and you know
  • 00:44:51
    Bangalore needs help with its water. In
  • 00:44:54
    fact as we are talking stories being
  • 00:44:56
    edited in my newsroom on Bangalore's
  • 00:44:59
    groundwater crisis because it's gone
  • 00:45:01
    really low this time. We're doing our
  • 00:45:03
    part and I completely agree with you as
  • 00:45:05
    a you know citizen of Bangalore. I
  • 00:45:07
    completely agree that we need to do more
  • 00:45:09
    water. Cities and civilizations have
  • 00:45:11
    been laid waste because of lack of
  • 00:45:13
    water. You know, we have taken a goal
  • 00:45:15
    which is an audacious goal, but we are
  • 00:45:17
    very sure we'll achieve it. That by
  • 00:45:19
    2027, all of our direct operations will
  • 00:45:22
    be water positive. So that means we will
  • 00:45:25
    be returning more water to the ground
  • 00:45:27
    than we take from it by actions such as
  • 00:45:30
    legit regeneration, water harvesting,
  • 00:45:33
    water, you know, using less water in our
  • 00:45:35
    facilities and so on. That's excellent.
  • 00:45:37
    AB, we've had a great conversation. It
  • 00:45:39
    was wonderful to meet you and also next
  • 00:45:41
    time I hear more stories about your dad
  • 00:45:43
    and come and meet him also because you
  • 00:45:45
    know there's no life like that of a
  • 00:45:48
    fighter pilots and he was among the
  • 00:45:51
    elite of the elite. Thank you sir.
  • 00:45:54
    Please give him my greetings. I said
  • 00:46:05
    mute. Heat. Heat. N.
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