Bezos to be Inducted into Logistics Hall of Fame
Jeffrey Preston Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, has been elected to the Logistics Hall of Fame as a revolutionizer of e-commerce and logistics.
Bezos revolutionized logistics in the mail order sector. In the words of the jury, he was the first to realize that software and logistics are key to the shift from purchasing-driven trading to demand-driven online trading. Thanks to a combination of software, efficient delivery, automation and long-term strategy, the computer scientist transformed transport logistics and intralogistics from the ground up, making Amazon a benchmark for the sector as a whole. Almost any technological development is nowadays influenced by e-commerce and many innovations are geared exclusively towards e-commerce.
Bezos launched his entrepreneurial career in 1994 with his online-based book store, and turned “the biggest book store in the world” not only into “the biggest department store in the world” in a matter of a few years but also into a technology company. In 2016 Amazon had a turnover of more than $135 billion.
His recipe for success is in the way products are delivered to the customers. He replaced the push principle with a pull approach. While commerce used to only store a selection of products with sales statistics only evaluated after the event, the Internet provided real time insights into current product searches. Bezos was the first to use algorithms for the purpose of pre-estimate consumer desires, and he covered the world with logistics centers in order to deliver almost any product cheaply, quickly and reliably to the customer.
Innovation is important for Bezos. Working by trial-and-error, Amazon tests new technological innovations almost on a daily basis in order to optimize the shopping process from customer order to parcel delivery. The Internet giant has been experimenting with drone delivery since 2013. The first logistics center, where some 2,500 transport robots will support the center’s staff, will open in Winsen, Germany, in September. Other successful examples for Bezos’ technology-focused approach are Amazon’s patented one-click order option based on stored credit card data, as well as even more convenient re-ordering via dash button.
He aims to expand the Amazon global supply chain into a global logistics network in which the company will act as the mediator between merchant and customer, operating all elements of the global supply chain - from production of goods all the way to delivery to the front door.
In his private life, Bezos is fascinated by aerospace and is currently working to make space travel possible for everyone.
“Jeff Bezos has rewritten the history of logistics. His name is synonymous with successful ecommerce and a generation of entrepreneurs whose business models are based on algorithms and innovative logistics solutions. Had it not been for him, not much would have moved in logistics”, said Anita Würmser, Executive Jury Chairperson of the Logistics Hall of Fame, on the final decision of the international expert jury.
Jeffrey Preston “Jeff” Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 12, 1964. He graduated in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton, launching his career in 1986 at Taiwanese mobile telecommunications company Fitel, followed by a positions at Bankers Trust and D.E. Shaw.
Bezos now employs more than 350,000 people.
The Logistics Hall of Fame’s patron is Alexander Dobrindt, Germany's Federal Minister of Transport and digital Infrastructure. The Logistics Hall of Fame is supported by numerous international sector associations, media and companies such as Duisburg Port, Gebrüder Weiss, logistics insurer Kravag, intralogistics provider Still, the federal Central Cooperative for Road Transport or freight exchange TimoCom.
Bezos will be officially inducted in a ceremony in Berlin on November 9. The Hall of Fame can be accessed here.