Bangalore: As Amazon’s Great Indian Festival is at its peak making customers happy and putting a smile on their faces, we put the spotlight on those who ensure your orders reach your doorstep safely and on time, every single time. At Amazon India operations, we celebrate these associates as our ‘Box Stars’.
When customers place an order on amazon.in, it’s picked and packed in a large fulfilment centre and sent to a sort centre via road, airplane or even trains to the city closest to the delivery location. At the sort centre, these packages are then sorted as per the delivery area and are further sent to a delivery station, which is the last stop in Amazon’s delivery network, before it’s delivered to customers at their door step. And all of this is possible because of the ’Box Stars’ across Amazon’s operations and delivery network including Pickers, Packers, Sort Centre Associates, Truck Drivers, and Delivery Partners among many others. They are the ones who ensure that your specific order reaches you amongst the millions of other boxes. Let’s meet some of these ‘Box Stars’ and hear from them on what makes their job special.
As soon as a customer places an order, our operations teams get to work. There are tens of thousands of fulfillment associates across the country who work together to delight Amazon customers with safe and on-time delivery. At our fulfillment centers, associates pick and pack customers’ orders into our Amazon boxes. Shubham, a ‘picker’ at the Delhi fulfillment centre joined Amazon in March this year, and ever since then, his life has changed for good. He says, “I am the eldest in the family of five, where everyone is dependent on me. I didn’t have enough money to pay the rent till last year. However, after I joined Amazon, everything changed. Today, I have a good environment to work in, a good salary, and a lot of respect in my community. I also got my sister married after joining Amazon. I am very fond of playing the guitar, not only did I get to buy one for myself but I’ve also started learning it professionally.”
Shubham picks the right product and sends it further for packing. Another fulfilment centre associate from Delhi, Budhavati, a ‘packer’ talks about the impact Amazon has had on her life. “I have a big family, which includes six brothers and two sisters, along with my parents, who are dependent on me. I wanted to go for higher studies, but because of a loan, I had to give up my studies and look out for work. I was fortunate to find a job at Amazon, where I was able to earn and save money to pay all my loans. It gives me a sense of pride and happiness to see my father free of debt and having a smile on his face. The working environment is also good. All I want now is to grow within Amazon and purchase my own house,” she says.
Amazon’s trucking partners play an integral role in its middle-mile operations to move packages between our fulfillment centres, sort centers, and last mile delivery stations across the country. Anantha VV – a truck driver talks about his journey to Amazon and how the safety protocols have helped him become a stronger and disciplined person. He says, “I met with an accident in 2017 while working in a factory, which led me to resign from my job. It was hard to find another job after the horrifying incident but I guess destiny had some other plans for me. I started working as a driver with a company that was associated with Amazon. The discipline maintained in the yard, dock, the mandatory use of safety vests, and even the SOPs being followed for COVID-19 are exceptional. I had never thought I would be able to return to a normal life but Amazon, for sure, helped me rise back to a better, stronger, and more disciplined person. Today, I am a happy truck driver working for a company associated with Amazon.”
Amazon India is focused on its commitment towards building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, for individuals from all backgrounds. It recognizes individuals from all walks of life whilst prioritizing the safety of its employees, and strives to build a workplace that is easily accessible for all employees.
Satyam, a Sort Centre Associate at Delhi talks about Amazon’s inclusive work culture. He adds, “I was 12 when I found out that I am a transgender. Everyone laughed at me and I had to leave school. Even my family became distant and I had to be a part of ‘Toli-badhaaiya’ to survive. With the help of an NGO, I got a job at Amazon. Before this, a lot of companies had refused to hire me but Amazon gave me my identity. Here, I am treated equally.”
Amazon’s network of delivery partners across the country enables the last mile of Amazon’s order fulfillment process. At the delivery stations, associates work in symphony with Amazon’s backend technology to sort packages according to the delivery routes to maximize delivery efficiency, then a delivery driver loads the packages onto their delivery vehicle, and the customer is notified that their package is “out for delivery.”
Usha, an ‘I Have Space’ (IHS) Partner from Bengaluru has been able to give her child a proper education after joining Amazon’s IHS program to deliver packages to their final destinations. She says, “I wanted to send my kid to a good boarding school, which is why I opened a stationery shop but to no avail. Whatever I earned was barely enough to run the house and COVID-19 made the situation worse. I wanted extra income and that led me to Amazon’s IHS program and I joined it immediately. Since then, I am associated with them and I earn enough to make my kid get a quality education.”
They’re happy and this happiness reflects in their, picking, packing, sorting, and delivery operations. One of the reasons why every box reaches its destination happily.
