Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Reno, NV: Amazon.com

Wednesday, January 9th

Our day consisted of a trip to the Amazon Fernley Distribution Center followed by a dinner and happy hour at our hotel sponsored by Amazon. When we arrived at the Amazon facility, we were met by most of the Amazon senior managers including Jeff Wilke, LFM ’93, who is the Senior Vice President of Amazon’s North American Retail branch. It was quite a day at Amazon with a great tour of the Distribution Center. It was a little weird for me to see a three-story library in the middle of a factory, but that is part of what Amazon does. They have some great technical skills and operations but even they are still pressing to get continuously better. That is some great inspiration for us all that even though we think that we are doing a good job, we can always do a better job. Amazon is very focused on the customer and does a wonderful job of maintaining this focus. I’ve seen other companies that claim they are customer focused, but while they say so their actions don’t follow suit, so this is quite refreshing.

The highlight of my day was the opportunity to have lunch with Jeff Wilke with four other LFMers – a truly exceptional experience! After our tour, we headed back to our hotel and then to dinner with Amazon. After dinner, the LFM class was unleashed on the city of Reno. Trips to the casinos for some roulette and craps (not to mention the penny slots) was a great time for some class bonding and low-key fun before another long day.

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